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Carol Bush Executive Director |
A Word from the Executive Director
Home invasion... Robbery... Auto Theft... Meth Labs... All words we are hearing far too often. And while these words generate a different image when they're happening to someone else, they can become a frightening reality when they impact us personally. It's a fact... Criminal activity invades our community every day. But it doesn't have to become a tolerated way of life.
All across our county, schools, businesses and neighborhoods are working together to improve the safety and security of our communities - and it's working! For more than 40 years, the Crime Prevention Network has set the pace in this endeavor through educational programs, public awareness activities and encouraging personal involvement.
Our program activities grew tremendously with the addition of key personnel. Retired Tulsa Police Officer Bart Dean joined the Crime Prevention Network as the Alert Neighbor Program Coordinator in February of 2013. He brought 28 years of street experience to the program and has added to the cadre of safety presentations that we offer to the community. He has doubled our volunteer pool and has stepped up as our Constant Contact creator. Keeping participants informed and engaged is critical to our success in engaging neighborhoods in crime prevention.
Our board of directors worked hard to promote our new brand identity. Focusing on these efforts took time and energy as many of the assets of the organization needed updating with the new name and the new look. We formed a new partnership with Tulsa Community College Broadcast and Journalism Department to help with our branding efforts. We have created safety videos and re-enactments that have been shared via YouTube to all of our community partners. The goal was to reach more citizens with our programs. 
Recognizing our limited time to focus on grant writing, the board hired a consultant to help identify and package grant requests to new funding sources. Our grant writer completed over forty family foundation grant requests as well as a Community Development Block Grant. We realized funding from five new sources and were able to expose new sources to our mission and programs.
Finally, our annual fundraiser Badges and BBQ was a huge success. It was being sold out with a record number cookers and the most money raised! Thanks to our very generous supporters and tireless volunteers we gained over 100 new supporters to that event and to our organization.
As I enter my eighth year as Executive Director, I am energized by the continued commitment from the Board of Directors, our partnerships with community supporters, a hard-working staff and a development plan that will grow and sustain the Crime Prevention Network for the next forty years.
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