The Kids Corps Childcare Retrofit Program is a joint public/private partnership to protect children at not-for-profit childcare centers throughout Pierce County. Beginning in September 2000, the program has protected thousands of children and taught hundreds of volunteers in non-structural earthquake mitigation techniques.
More earthquake injuries are caused by falling building contents than by building collapse or failure. Using techniques developed by the Institute for Business & Home Safety (www.ibhs.org) this safety program provides both immediate and long term safety benefits to childcare centers.
Citizen Corps grants and donations from local businesses support the work done by the PC Kids Corps volunteers. Staff members meet with local childcare center directors and then conduct a survey, cataloging what needs to be retrofitted. Supplies are gathered and then volunteers spend an afternoon, or sometimes a Saturday, installing childproof latches, putting plastic sleeves on overhead light fixtures, strapping water heaters, bolting bookcases to the wall, and using many other techniques to protect the children and staff of the center.
Citizen Corps volunteers come from the American Red Cross, local colleges and high schools, Good Samaritan Medical Explorer Post 905, Lowe's Home Improvement of Puyallup, Puget Sound Energy and other groups and individuals from throughout the community. They include teachers and students; teenagers and grandparents.
Some have construction backgrounds while others have never used a drill, a hammer or a screwdriver. When they leave the retrofit, they have acquired new safety knowledge and new skills.
