Founded in 1991 by Dr. Gordon Haugan, the Center for Childhood Safety, Inc. (CCS) began as an agency committed to preventing traumatic injuries to children. Today, CCS is the only 501(c)3 nonprofit agency in the region focused on the unintentional injuries of children. CCS’s mission is to prevent and eliminate childhood injuries that lead to disability or death. CCS is committed to education and prevention of all childhood injuries. Current core programming centers around bike helmet safety, child passenger safety and overall in-home safety. Our Winners Wear Helmets and Wee Winners Wear Helmets programs are our primary bike helmet safety initiative. An average of 600 fifth-graders from at-risk schools in Green Bay, along with another 425 Head Start preschoolers attend a two-day event in which they receive bike helmets, are properly fitted for their new helmets and receive extensive hands-on interactive education. As the lead agency for Safe Kids Greater Green Bay, we coordinate monthly free car seat events at local businesses. Annually, we do about 600 car seat checks/installations, either at community events or one-on-one at our offices. We also assist in providing car seats to as many as 50 low-income families in cooperation with Brown County Health Department. These inspection locations, along with our free monthly car seat inspections sponsored at various businesses and car dealerships, makes CCS the leader and technical resource for child passenger seat safety activities in the area. For the past 19 years, CCS has hosted the Greater Green Bay Safety Town program. With more than 3,500 graduates, this program introduces safety awareness to young children, ages 4-9, in a fun, hands-on, educational environment. During the week-long program, children begin to evaluate “safe from unsafe” and learn how to react safely when confronted with potentially dangerous situations. Safety Town offers a classroom segment, as well as an interactive experience on the streets of the specially designed, child-sized Safety Town. Topics include:
Fire Safety
Pedestrian & Parked Car Safety
Police Safety
Booster/Car Seat Usage
Playground Safety
Poison/Drug Safety
Personal Safety
Bike Helmet Use
Electrical Safety
Dog Safety
Water Safety
Safety Town instructors are licensed elementary school teachers who are committed to keeping young children safe. Trained safety professionals are also utilized to reinforce safety messages, as are 100 area teens working to achieve service hours while helping teach the safety lessons that could save a child’s life. The newest program to CCS is the Safe Sleep Community Collaborative. Partnering with other agencies, both private and public, we lead a community campaign to raise awareness of safe sleep procedures for infants and distribute pack-n-plays for needy families who do not have the means of providing a safe sleep environment for their babies.
