Featured Testimonial About Creighton University
The Child Safety Center will play an important role in promoting child safety and well-being in a historically underserved community, directly addressing health disparities that often intersect with housing insecurity and environmental risks.
For questions about Creighton University’s Child Safety Center, contact Emily Sutton at pophealth@creighton.edu or 402.280.3965.
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By Micah Mertes
Creighton University’s new Child Safety Center — located at the University’s recently renovated space in the Highlander Accelerator, 2112 N. 30th St. — will meet an essential need in reducing accidental childhood injuries, the leading cause of death in children nationwide and in Nebraska.
“The center will play an important role in promoting child safety and well-being in a historically underserved community, directly addressing health disparities that often intersect with housing insecurity and environmental risks,” said April Dixon, BS'16, MPH'19, Creighton’s North Omaha Community and Engagement Director.
“The center’s presence within the Highlander Accelerator, developed by Seventy Five North Revitalization Corp., amplifies its impact by situating it in a vibrant, inclusive hub designed to serve North Omaha’s richly diverse population.”
At the Child Safety Center, staff will present examples of real-world household hazards and demonstrate how to properly use everyday items, such as bicycle helmets, car seats and stairway gates. Working with distributors, the center will also offer a range of safety supplies at a low cost to families.
The new Child Safety Center is part of Creighton’s Institute for Population Health. Launched in 2023, the Institute aims to enhance health outcomes and reduce disparities in the community through research, outreach and initiatives such as the new center. The Institute is partnering with Children’s Nebraska to launch the center, with programming and training materials developed with members of Children’s Nebraska’s injury prevention and community benefits teams.
The Child Safety Center was made possible by an investment from the Lozier Foundation, as were recent renovations to the Creighton at Highlander space. The foundation’s gift also created four new full-time, North Omaha-based staff positions, including the Child Safety Center’s recently hired safety educator, Shannon Martinez, MEd, and community health navigators to assist local families with health-related social needs.
“The Lozier Foundation’s gift has substantially advanced Creighton’s work in North Omaha,” said Scott Shipman, MD, MPH, the Institute’s founding executive director and Creighton’s CyncHealth Endowed Chair for Population Health. “Everything — the safety center, the renovations, the new staff positions — will be directed toward improving health and well-being in North Omaha through our connections and partnerships with those who live there.”
Child Safety Center
Accidental injuries are the No. 1 cause of morbidity and death for children across all age groups in the U.S., disproportionately impacting marginalized and minority populations, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics.
For every death, there are more than 30 hospitalizations and more than 1,000 emergency visits due to children’s injuries, according to data provided by the National Institutes of Health. And every year, 1 in 4 children is injured severely enough to miss school or require medical attention. In Nebraska, black individuals have 2 to 3 times the rate of unintentional injuries as white individuals, according to Nebraska Health and Human Services Vital Records.
Most injuries are avoidable but require the training of parents, widespread community awareness and greater access to prevention opportunities and resources. Families also commonly face inadequate access to necessary equipment that reduces the risk of injury. The multifaceted efforts of the Child Safety Center seek to address these inequities.
Shipman, a pediatrician and health services researcher by training, has seen firsthand the benefits such a resource can bring to a community’s well-being. In 2004, he founded the Tom Sargent Safety Resource Center at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Oregon Health & Science University, which was the first center of its kind on the West Coast. For a safety center to succeed — whether in Portland, Oregon, or Omaha, Nebraska — the community itself must be the catalyzing force, said Shipman.
“We will listen to the community’s needs first. We will partner with schools, clinical partners and community-based organizations to align our efforts and, in turn, facilitate the broadest range of services to make the greatest possible impact for North Omaha families.”
The Institute for Population Health’s management of the center and its commitment to evidence-informed practice will ensure ongoing responsiveness to the community’s needs, Shipman said.
In addition to measuring the number of visitors to the center, the number of supplies collected and distributed to families, and the number of outreach efforts throughout the community, the Institute will continue to track local injury rates, safety risks and associated healthcare utilization.
Creighton at Highlander renovations
The Child Safety Center will reside in the upgraded 4,000-square-foot Creighton space in the Highlander Accelerator. The renovated space can now accommodate more groups, activities and programming.
In addition to the Institute for Population Health and the Child Safety Center, multiple other Creighton groups will continue to use the space, including: the School of Law’s Juvenile Justice Clinic, the law school’s Community Connections program, the GED program run by the TRIO office and the Creighton Community Collaborative.
This intersection of North Omaha and Creighton is ideally located, said Dixon. “The Highlander Accelerator houses a mix of organizations like Metropolitan Community College and Charles Drew Health Center alongside the black-owned restaurant Big Mama’s Kitchen and locally owned Hardy Coffee Co.
“The blend of cultural, educational and economic resources reflects North Omaha’s diversity and supports a community-led model of revitalization. Embedding the safety center and other Creighton resources in this space ensures that they are not only accessible but culturally responsive, reinforcing the broader goals of safe, affordable housing and equitable community development. It’s a great fit.”
