Safe Communities

Vision, Mission and History

Vision
Safe Communities will be both the leader and the primary catalyst in making Madison/Dane County the safest American community.

Mission
Safe Communities builds partnerships with people and organizations to prevent injuries, save lives, and make our community safer.

History
Safe Communities

A major impetus behind formation of Safe Communities (formerly the Safe Community Coalition of Madison and Dane County) was a community assessment conducted by the City of Madison Public Health Department in 1998. This assessment found that although many governmental agencies and private organizations work in the area of injury prevention, very little collaboration was occurring.

In response to this community assessment, the Coalition grew out of an exciting conference held in December 1998 where nearly 100 people from a wide range of organizations gathered and began making plans for greater collaboration toward a safer community.

Funding was secured from the Bureau of Transportation Safety (BOTS), Wisconsin Department of Transportation, to establish a local Safe Community Coalition, and a coalition coordinator was hired in April 1999. We held our first General Membership Meeting in July 1999, during which time 75 people with a stake in injury prevention (police and fire/ems department representatives, public and private health organization leaders, neighborhood association presidents, non-profit managers, elected officials and business executives) helped set Coalition priorities. The Coalition continues to hold General Membership meetings annually to renew our partnerships and plan the next year's activities.

In an effort to discover safety concerns of area residents, Madison and Dane County Public Health conducted community listening sessions in 2000. Over 100 residents shared their concerns and suggested ways to prevent injury. Community input, plus analysis of Dane County's top causes of injury, guides decisions on campaigns and activities the Coalition conducts.

In October 2000, members of the Steering Committee, who have overseen the Coalition since its inception, were elected as the Coalition's first Board of Directors. The Board also incorporated and adopted bylaws and operating procedures at that time.

In December 2001, the Coalition received 501(c)3 non-profit status, allowing the organization to bring more resources to community injury prevention activities. Since becoming a 501(c)3 organization, the Coalition launched a Sustaining Member Campaign, and secured grants to fund local injury reduction programs. In 2002, we received a three-year grant from Madison Community Foundation to hire a development director whose charge is to build a sustainable funding base for collaborative injury-prevention activities. Dane County's corporate citizens have demonstrated their commitment to safety by become Sustaining Members and by sponsoring Coalition campaigns.

Since its inception, Safe Communities has conducted collaborative, community-wide safety projects including Slow Down Yard Sign Campaigns, Walk to School Week, Neighbor-to-Neighbor Safe Home Visits, Kids Safe Home Alone Campaign, Stop On Red, Safety Town, Sunday Sunday, Falls Prevention and Suicide Prevention initiatives. We estimate that since 1999, the Coalition's collaborative projects directly improved the personal safety of more than 25,000 Dane County residents, most of whom are children and older adults.