AbilityFirst Community Aquatics

AbilityFirst Community Aquatics is part of the AbilityFirst programs offered at the Long Beach Center. The program is one of several on-site services at this center, along with the ExploreAbility Adult Day Program, an After School Program, and Employment Services. It operates within the broader organization mission of supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families by focusing on capabilities and expanding possibilities.

In 1926, in response to the pre-vaccine polio epidemic, business leaders from the Los Angeles Rotary Club established the Crippled Children’s Society of Southern California, which is the organization now known as AbilityFirst. In 2000, the organization formally adopted the name AbilityFirst to reflect its ongoing mission related to access, inclusion, and belonging. AbilityFirst provides program centers throughout Greater Los Angeles and operates a fully accessible sleepaway camp in the San Bernardino National Forest. The organization pioneered some of California’s first community-based services for children with disabilities and set a national benchmark for accessibility with the design and construction of one of the country’s first fully accessible camps, Camp Paivika. AbilityFirst also sponsored and helped secure passage of California State Senate Bill 309, which allows young adults with developmental disabilities to participate in after-school programs throughout high school.

Last updated April 1, 2026.