HOME SAFETY COUNCIL PARTNERS WITH DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY IN SUPPORT OF CITIZEN CORPS

Partnership to Help Reach Communities Nationwide with Home Safety Messages

Chicago, IL (September 2, 2004) – Announced today, the Home Safety Council (HSC) and Department of Homeland Security’s Citizen Corps will collaborate to promote community emergency preparedness and home safety. To recognize this partnership during National Preparedness Month, the organizations held an official signing ceremony at Chicago’s Navy Pier today.

The Home Safety Council, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping to prevent injuries within the home, and Citizen Corps, a grass-roots initiative to engage people across America in hometown security and emergency preparedness, will embark on this partnership in a joint mission to raise public awareness and participation in home safety at the national, state and local levels. The collaboration will also focus on encouraging safety education, training and volunteer programs in local communities throughout the nation.

“Protecting our homeland starts with implementing proper safety practices within our own home,” said Meri-K Appy, president of the Home Safety Council. “By aligning with Citizen Corps, the Home Safety Council will help to arm the American people with home safety education and resources to help prevent the millions of home-related injuries that occur each year. We are honored to be affiliated with such an important initiative.”

In an effort to build safer, stronger and better-prepared communities, the Home Safety Council and Department of Homeland Security partnership will:

• Raise public awareness about safety hazards in the home and actions that can reduce vulnerability through the national, state and local Citizen Corps Councils;
• Encourage Citizen Corps Councils to implement and further develop safety training, education, and volunteer service programs, such as Lowe’s Heroes and the Great Safety Adventure;
• Publicly acknowledge the affiliation of Citizen Corps and the HSC, which may include website links, co-logos on publications, and references in printed materials;
• Coordinate their respective activities at a level that furthers their shared mission; and
• Keep each other informed of activities conducted in support of Citizen Corps and provide an annual report summarizing those activities. .

The signing was followed by a tour of the Home Safety Council’s Great Safety Adventure®, a traveling interactive home safety exhibit. The program teaches kids of all ages how to avoid common household dangers, including: fires and burns, falls, choking suffocation and poisoning. The “field trip on wheels” has directly reached nearly 600,000 children and parents since it launched in 1999.

About Home Safety Council

The Home Safety Council is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to helping prevent the nearly 21 million medical visits that occur on average each year from unintentional injuries in the home. Through national programs and partners across America, the Home Safety Council works to educate and empower families to take actions that help keep them safe in and around their homes. To learn more about the Council’s programs, partnerships and resources, visit the Home Safety Council at www.homesafetycouncil.org.

About Citizen Corps

Under the direction of DHS, Citizen Corps is a community-based initiative to engage all citizens in hometown security and community and family preparedness through public education and outreach, training opportunities, and volunteer programs. Programs under the Citizens Corps umbrella include federally sponsored programs and other activities that share the goal of helping communities prepare for disasters of all kinds. It encourages all Americans to take an active role in building safer, stronger, and better-prepared communities, to include the critical steps on the DHS Ready campaign. To find out more about Citizen Corps, visit www.citizencorps.gov.