At the Safety Store, Safe Children Activities Coordinator Chazlie Miller measures Ryan Skeeters, 5, for a bike helmet as his brother, Mason, 9, looks on. (photo by Joe Howell)
Safety Store celebrates third birthday with new offerings
The Safety Store at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt turns 3 this month, and it has a lot to celebrate.
The store, located in the Junior League Family Resource Center on the second floor of Children’s Hospital, has had more than 11,400 visitors and sold more than 8,000 products since opening in March 2009.
Safety advocates use the site as an opportunity to educate parents and caregivers about child safety.
A variety of safety products are offered at the store, everything from bicycle helmets to car seats, all at-cost for adults and children.
“We have really appreciated the opportunity to provide important safety education to visitors at Children’s Hospital over the last three years,” said Sarah Haverstick, Safe Children program manager.
“For our team, it is all about keeping children safe – we love every interaction we can have with a family, listening to their concerns and providing education.”
Recently, the Safety Store expanded its product line to also include health and wellness items, offering exercise products, occupational therapy resources and specialty items, such as training cups for children who have cleft lip or palate.
Haverstick said several clinics, including Diabetes, Neurology and Occupational Therapy, also partnered with the store to provide products for their patients. She hopes to work with more clinics.
To celebrate the anniversary, emergency preparedness supplies are on sale in March, including smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors and weather alert radios.
Children's Hospital was one of six children's hospitals across the country to open a safety store with funding from the National Association of Children's Hospital and Related Institutes. The $100,000 grant allowed for a central location for experts to provide safety education.
“The Safety Store is a resource where customers not only have access to low cost safety products, but they also receive an educational component from trained safety educators as well,” said Chazlie Miller, Safe Children activities coordinator.
“It is a pleasure for our staff to be able to work with families one-on-one to determine exactly what their safety needs are, and in what ways we are able to assist.”
For more information on the safety store, call 936-1869, or visit its website at www.childrenshospital.vanderbilt.org/safetystore.