Safety village marks 25 years
More than 20,000 kids educated annually
WATERLOO REGION — The Waterloo Region Children’s Safety Village was built on a dream that police could educate up to 10,000 children a year on how to be safe.
But in its first year, the not-for-profit centre on Maple Grove Road in Cambridge surpassed its goal and ran programs for 14,000 children.
Today — 25 years later — the village serves 22,000 Grade 1 to Grade 6 students a year, and there’s a waiting list for the programs.
It’s all run on a shoestring budget, says Joe Steiner, who retired as finance director for Waterloo Regional Police last year, but agreed to remain on the village’s board. He has been a member of the committee overseeing the village since it opened in 1992.
The village’s safety message started with bike and road safety; in 1996 police partnered with the fire department and fire safety was introduced.
About 10 years ago Internet safety was added to the programming with the donation of 30 iPads. Children in Grade 5 learn about staying safe on the Internet and watching what they post on social media sites.
“You don’t share your toothbrush so don’t share your password,” said Becky Moore, a fire prevention officer who leads programming on fire prevention, the science of fire and emergency preparedness.
The fire safety education includes practicing home safety plans and stresses the importance of working smoke alarms. The children also learn about kitchen hazards and participate in a mock 911 call.
Steiner said the programming evolves to keep students engaged and to stay current.
“We provide valuable safety tips,” Steiner said.
“We appeal to all senses of learning,” said Moore.
The village is made up of 26 scaled-down buildings, including a church, a library and various buildings from local businesses and organizations, such as banks, restaurants, insurance and travel agencies.
“It’s designed as a community,” said Moore. The village also includes traffic lights and a roundabout.
The village is located on regional land next to Waterloo Regional Police headquarters. The companies pay to erect the buildings and pay an annual maintenance fee.
Although other communities have children’s safety villages, the local one is unique
because of the partnership between police and fire, Steiner said.
The village has been visited by representatives of villages in the United States, Australia, Europe and Qatar.
“We are the benchmark,” Steiner said.
The annual operating costs of the village are about $60,000. It relies on donations each year and collects about $50,000 through annual fundraising.
Schools attend the village for free.
Lee Fitzpatrick, Safety Village chair, said the village needs to collect more money because $50,000 isn’t sustainable for the future.
Fitzpatrick said discussions are underway with local paramedics so programming can expand to include paramedics, who along with police and fire, arrive at 911 calls.
In emergency preparedness planning, paramedics could give advice to children on how to handle a 911 call when a family member has a stroke.
Fitzpatrick said the village is also considering taking some programming, specifically farm and agricultural safety, to students rather than having them come to the village.
In September, the organization is celebrating its quarter century with a gala event at St. George’s Banquet Hall in Waterloo. A silent and live auction will be held. Tickets are $100. For information, go to waterlooregioncsv.com.