FFDIA uses ice skating to build confidence, resilience, and opportunity for roughly 2,500 DC youth annually, most from Wards 7 and 8: communities long without access to safe recreation or to costly sports like figure skating and hockey. Founded in 1996 to save the city’s only public indoor rink, it built Kids On Ice into a nationally recognized model – pairing skating lessons with mentorship, academic support, and social-emotional learning. When the District’s $40 million rebuild of the rink suffered years of delays and, according to FFDIA, a faulty dehumidification system, FFDIA decided to keep its programs at Canal Park. With 30 years of experience, trained instructors, and a proven curriculum, it is ready to bring Kids On Ice back to its historic home; in the meantime, it continues to serve eager skaters and their families, as it has for decades.
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