When Miami mother Olga Londoño lost her 15-month-old son Eduardo in 2021, she turned grief into action by founding the Edu Foundation to teach children how to enjoy water safely. Her nonprofit now helps fund Zero Drownings Miami-Dade, a countywide effort that brings free swim lessons and family water-safety education into the school day. Organizers say the model removes barriers such as cost, transportation and lack of awareness so the youngest children can build life-saving skills early.
School-day lessons reach kids where they are
Zero Drownings Miami-Dade launched in fall 2024 and delivers ten 30-minute in-water sessions as coordinated school field trips, taught by American Red Cross-certified instructors and offered in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole, according to The Children's Trust. The county has established an Office of Drowning Prevention in the Parks department to manage logistics and a new management information system that handles registration and data, Miami-Dade County says. Schools arrange transportation to nearby pools so lessons happen during the school day.
Why the push is urgent
Drowning remains a leading cause of death for young children: the Centers for Disease Control reports that more children ages 1 to 6 die from drowning than any other cause of death, and that drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death for children 5 to 14, according to the CDC. State health statistics show Florida has among the highest child-drowning rates in the nation, a reality local officials cite as motivation for a countywide effort to change those numbers, according to the Florida Department of Health.
A local founder's push
A profile in Community Newspapers traces Londoño's work from personal tragedy to programmatic support and reports recent program metrics: the article says Zero Drownings Miami-Dade has reached more than 4,300 children and delivered nearly 31,300 swim lessons since 2024, as reported by Community Newspapers. That piece also notes that Edu Home donates 100% of its profits to support the Edu Foundation and that the initiative explicitly targets barriers including cost, transportation and lack of awareness, also as reported by Community Newspapers. Local organizers say those numbers, if sustained, strengthen the case for expanding school-day lessons and family education.
Tools for parents and partners
The Zero Drownings website hosts a searchable map of after-school and summer swim programs and links to a free American Red Cross online water-safety course for parents and caregivers, including Haitian Creole materials and downloadable "Water Watcher" resources, according to ZeroDrowningsMiamiDade.org. Municipal partners and private providers are listed on the site so families can find continuing lessons beyond the school-day pilot.
Scaling the solution
Funders from The Children's Trust to The Miami Foundation and United Way Miami have committed support as the initiative expands, and county officials say they will add municipal and private partners to reach their target of 20,000 children a year. Parents whose children are selected will be notified through teachers and must complete registration forms before students participate, Miami-Dade County says.
