Our Story

What is SNUGS?

SNUGS stands for Special Needs Undergraduate Swim Lessons. We recognize that drowning is among the leading causes of death for children with disabilities. We work to mitigate that statistic by providing free swim instruction to as many special needs children as possible. Our lessons provide swimmers opportunities to socialize, exercise, learn water safety, and have fun! SNUGS helps form positive relationships between college campuses and their surrounding communities, while also instilling a long-lasting commitment to service in its volunteers.

Our Vision

Our goal is to create a safer world for special needs children by connecting student communities with local families. We want to increase safety for children with intellectual/developmental differences by tackling accidental drowning. Our objective is to ensure that more low-income families have access to quality, one-on-one swim instruction for their children with special needs. To do this, SNUGS creates free swim clinic programs on university campuses across the country.

How we begAN

SNUGS started in 2017 as a student organization at Yale College by Megan Sardis. There was an immense need for local, low-cost opportunities for disabled children in the New Haven area. In addition, there was a lack of special needs volunteer programs at Yale. Since its inception, the program has grown to serve over 150 families in the New Haven community and to engage over 100 student volunteers.