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Joyce French
Hagerstown
Children’s Village can support SCIP goals
To the editor:
On July 31, Jenny Fleming of the United Way and Brad Sell of the Community Foundation co-authored an article about SCIP goals being met. They specifically cite goals increasing the number of people making healthy decisions, as well as those decreasing the number of people living in risky environments.
For more than 20 years, our community has been a recognized leader in proactive child safety education through the Children’s “safety” Village initiative. When SCIP was not yet a gleam in the eye of focus groups, many in Washington County already were addressing the No. 1 cause of death/disability for children under 14, unintentional injury, by creating a child safety campus. A cross-section of organizations, community leaders and government entities understood that proactive safety education and training, rather than reactive response, was critical to increasing the number of children (and their families) making healthy decisions, while decreasing the number of children (and families) living in risky environments.
Success stories of Children’s Village students, using skills learned and practiced at the safety campus to save lives or curtail tragic results that might have occurred in emergency situations, continue to define the program’s value to our community. They affirm a Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Injury Prevention Center, study concluding positive behavioral lifestyle changes occurred in over 50 percent of homes once a child attended Children’s Village.
At Children’s Village, child safety is no accident. The program and campus are priceless gifts to the community and a credit to the vision of Washington County.
Rochelle Morrell, executive director
Children’s Village of Washington County
No one should go hungry or homeless
To the editor:
We see people all around town holding cardboard signs that say “Will work for food” or “Please help me, I’m homeless.” I was driving to work at one of the prisons south of Hagerstown, and I saw a woman on the island between traffic at a gas station and Sharpsburg Pike holding one of those signs.
I’ve worked at the prison for over 12 years and it occurred to me that if these people were to get sent to prison, they would be given everything they need at no charge to them. They would receive three hot meals every day. They would be given a place to sleep, electricity, cosmetics, and at least one shower daily.
They would have an unbelievable amount of material things at their disposal. They would have cable television, microwaves and exercise equipment, with plenty of free time to use it.
I’m sure a lot of these people aren’t in the best of health, but not to worry, because they would receive 100 percent free medical care for as long as they needed it. There is no reason for anyone in this state to go hungry or homeless. The prison system will take care of all of their needs if they can manage to get there.
Robert Sellers
Hagerstown
Hagerstown
Children’s Village can support SCIP goals
To the editor:
On July 31, Jenny Fleming of the United Way and Brad Sell of the Community Foundation co-authored an article about SCIP goals being met. They specifically cite goals increasing the number of people making healthy decisions, as well as those decreasing the number of people living in risky environments.
For more than 20 years, our community has been a recognized leader in proactive child safety education through the Children’s “safety” Village initiative. When SCIP was not yet a gleam in the eye of focus groups, many in Washington County already were addressing the No. 1 cause of death/disability for children under 14, unintentional injury, by creating a child safety campus. A cross-section of organizations, community leaders and government entities understood that proactive safety education and training, rather than reactive response, was critical to increasing the number of children (and their families) making healthy decisions, while decreasing the number of children (and families) living in risky environments.
Success stories of Children’s Village students, using skills learned and practiced at the safety campus to save lives or curtail tragic results that might have occurred in emergency situations, continue to define the program’s value to our community. They affirm a Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Injury Prevention Center, study concluding positive behavioral lifestyle changes occurred in over 50 percent of homes once a child attended Children’s Village.
At Children’s Village, child safety is no accident. The program and campus are priceless gifts to the community and a credit to the vision of Washington County.
Rochelle Morrell, executive director
Children’s Village of Washington County
No one should go hungry or homeless
To the editor:
We see people all around town holding cardboard signs that say “Will work for food” or “Please help me, I’m homeless.” I was driving to work at one of the prisons south of Hagerstown, and I saw a woman on the island between traffic at a gas station and Sharpsburg Pike holding one of those signs.
I’ve worked at the prison for over 12 years and it occurred to me that if these people were to get sent to prison, they would be given everything they need at no charge to them. They would receive three hot meals every day. They would be given a place to sleep, electricity, cosmetics, and at least one shower daily.
They would have an unbelievable amount of material things at their disposal. They would have cable television, microwaves and exercise equipment, with plenty of free time to use it.
I’m sure a lot of these people aren’t in the best of health, but not to worry, because they would receive 100 percent free medical care for as long as they needed it. There is no reason for anyone in this state to go hungry or homeless. The prison system will take care of all of their needs if they can manage to get there.
Robert Sellers
Hagerstown
