Car Seat Mini Grant
ALBANY, Ga. – The Dougherty County Health Department has announced the availability of its Car Seat Mini Grant Program.
Buckle up, Dougherty county residents! Families in Dougherty county can now benefit from the Car Seat Mini Grant Program, made possible through the collaborative efforts of the Southwest Health District and its partners, essential resources are being provided to local families.
“The Car Seat Mini Grant Program is a collaboration between the Dougherty County Health Department, the Southwest Health District and the state’s injury prevention program. The state wants to make sure that every child has a car seat and that each time they get in a car, they’re putting it in the correct way. And, not only do they want them to have a car seat, but they want to make sure that the parents have the education they need to make sure that it’s put in the car correctly each time the child is harnessed in the seat correctly each time. So, that if is there is an accident, there won’t be any injury or minimal injury to the child. Because, it’s been proven that if they’re secured properly in the car seat, that they won’t sustain as many injuries as they would if they weren’t in a car seat,” said Vamella Lovett, Director, Dougherty County Health Department.
The Car Seat Mini Grant Program aims to provide car seats and educational resources to financially eligible families across 113 counties in Georgia.
Vamella Lovett, Director of the Dougherty County Health Department, offers more information on the program’s eligibility criteria and the educational components the program includes.
“Families who are on public assistance, such as WIC or some type of government assistance programs, which means that they have limited income and may not be able to purchase a car seat for their child. Then they can actually participate in the program. It’s a class that they attend here, usually we a lot about 3 hours for the class. Sometimes it’s shorter. We have a PowerPoint that is sent down by the state and we go through all of the different types of car seats, how to install them correctly. And, then, once they’re taught all this in the classroom, then we go outside to the car, and we actually observe them actually installing the car seat properly, and then putting their child into the car seat correctly,” said Lovett.
The Dougherty County Health Department encourages guardians to take advantage of this valuable opportunity.
“Well, I would just like to encourage anyone who feel like they may be eligible just to call us and we will let them know whether they are eligible to receive a car seat and attend the class, because we want to make sure that every child, in Dougherty county is in a car seat that’s appropriate for their age and their size and everything, and that the parents know how to put them in the car seat correctly each and every time they get in the car,” said Lovett.
De’Andra Jacobs reporting.
Copyright 2024 CBS 44 South Georgia. All rights reserved.
