Official State of Rhode Island website

State of Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management

Water Safety Grant Application 2025

All application sections must be completed; incomplete forms will not be considered. Applications are due by 4:00 PM on December 10, 2025. DEM will accept applications for grants of $5,000 or more for qualified applicants based on demonstrated need. Applications that do not meet the criteria will be rejected. 

View the full information for this program at dem.ri.gov/water-safety-grants

  • Applicant Information
  • Program Overview
  • Demonstrated Need
  • Methodology
  • Funding Request
  • Complete

Organization Qualifications

Applicants will be scored based on their qualifications as a swimming instruction facility.

This grant is intended to cover the cost of equipment or staff training for adaptive swim programs. This may include equipment for students to use during lessons, certifications for staff to learn adaptive swim curricula, or small improvements to the facility in which adaptive lessons are hosted. 

This grant is NOT intended to cover the cost of swim lessons (please change your funding request type to "teach swim lessons"; note that adaptive swim lessons may be subsidized using the Water Safety Grant).

Organization Qualifications

This grant aims to increase the total number of students from low-income households receiving free lessons statewide. It is NOT intended to cover the costs of subsidized lessons already being offered with organizational funding.

Please use this application to describe how this grant funding would expand your organization’s ability to provide free lessons for new students from low-income households. Applicants who demonstrate this intent by explaining how this grant funding will increase their ability to teach additional students will receive higher scores.