Southside Neighborhood Association
The Derrick
By ERIN SCHATTAUER
(As reported in The Derrick)
Friday, July 27, 2007
Safe House program in works
A neighborhood watch group is hoping to breathe new life into the old YWCA initiative.
A new neighborhood watch group has set its sights on reviving an old program to help keep Oil City residents safe.
The Safe House program, once an initiative by
the Oil City YWCA, is one of the projects in the works for the newly
formed South Side Association.
The association held its first public meeting
Thursday evening in the sanctuary of the Free Methodist Church on
Wilson Avenue and outlined its plan to sweep drugs and crime from the
streets.
On the to-do list is the establishment of the
Safe House program. A Safe House offers a refuge to anyone " a
youngster, teenager, adult or senior citizen "who is in need of help
while in that neighborhood.
The group's efforts summon memories of a
similar program once organized by the Oil City YWCA. The YW began its
Safe House program in 1981.
The program was a successful one, headed by
then-YWCA executive director Martha Reynolds and supported by area
school officials, the Oil City Police Department and several area home
and school associations.
Program coordinators at the YW sent letters
home with school children as a way to inform them of the Safe Houses
and to recruit new Safe House locations.
Applicants were screened and approved before
they were handed a bright yellow poster featuring a house outline with
the word "SAFE" inside the sketch.
Originally a program to protect children
against abduction, it was later broadened to include providing a safe
place for all persons, young and old.
By 1987 there were about 350 Safe Houses throughout Oil City.
The YWCA'S Safe House program continued until about 1997 when it dissolved.
"We have not done it in probably the last 10
years," said Leanne Kinch, the adult program and office coordinator at
the YWCA.
"What we tried to get were people who were home a lot of the time when kids were coming and going," Kinch said.
The program ended when interest waned.
"We just didn't have the response anymore from the people who wanted to open up their homes," she said.
When the program concluded there were about 200 Safe Houses scattered throughout the city.
Today, South Side Association sees a need for the program once again.
"They haven't done it in quite some time. We
felt that's something we wanted to do to bring back," South Side
Association president Tami Brock said.
Since moving to Oil City from Rocky Grove four
years ago, Brock said she and her husband have seen old Safe House
signs posted in the windows of homes.
"We just thought that it was something vital
for the kids," Brock said. "Sometimes they get into trouble and there's
nowhere to go."
The Safe House program went over really well with those at Thursday's meeting, according to Brock.
"Last night after that meeting, we had
numerous people sign up for that," she said. "That is something
everybody was really interested in."
The Safe House program is not just for children in need of a safe haven.
"We want it to be available for anyone who needs help," Brock said.
She's hoping the program will spread from the South Side through the rest of the city.
"In the future, I'd like to see working with
the North Side Association and the association forming in Siverly to
make this citywide," she said.
Overall, Brock was pleased with the turnout at Thursday's first public meeting of the South Side Association.
"I think the turnout was fine and I thought it went really, really well," Brock said.
The South Side group was "thrilled to death"
by the enthusiasm and monetary gift presented by Venice Lewis and Leo
Mansfield of the North Side Association.
"The people that were there, they're just
really enthusiastic," Brock said. "Everybody was communicating and I
think that was great."
Thursday's meeting is just the beginning, and Brock hopes more people will get involved with the group.
"I implore people to stick with us and help because we are going to do good things," she said.
Please contact us at:
PO. Box 805, Oil City, PA
16301or email us
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