Students identify community pedestrian needs through photography
DALLAS – The Injury Prevention Center of Greater Dallas (IPC), in partnership with the Vickery Meadow Youth Development Foundation, is using photography through the PHOTOVOICE project to teach local students how to make their neighborhood safer for pedestrians.
The month-long project helps students develop photography skills while identifying pedestrian-related safety issues and exploring possible solutions. The project will end with a presentation of the students’ photography to Dallas City Council members and community officials at 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 30 at Sam Tasby Middle School, 7001 Fair Oaks Ave., Dallas.
“Through this project, students gain skills not only in photography, but also how to advocate for change to improve the safety and quality of life in their own neighborhood. They are now better prepared to recognize issues they have in their community regarding safety and safe routes to school,” said Shelli Stephens-Stidham, director of the Injury Prevention Center.
The Injury Prevention Center provides digital cameras for the students’ use in the PHOTOVOICE program, along with educational support. Project photographs will be displayed at Half-Price Books at 5803 E. Northwest Hwy., Dallas until Aug. 13. This is the third year that the IPC has facilitated the PHOTOVOICE project.
The 15 students participating are 7th graders enrolled in the Eagle Scholars program of the Vickery Meadow Youth Development Foundation. The college-readiness, tuition-free summer program is designed to encourage and support first-generation college students to reach their full potential.
“The PHOTOVOICE project taught students from this highly diverse and low income neighborhood that they have both a voice and a responsibility to make needed changes for the community,” stated Martha Stowe, executive director, Vickery Meadow Youth Development Foundation.
PHOTOVOICE is an international program used primarily in the field of community development, public health and education which combines photography with grassroots social action. Its mission is to build skills within disadvantaged and marginalized communities using participatory photography and digital storytelling methods to give youth the opportunity to create tools for advocacy and communications to achieve positive social change.
In 1994, area health, government and business leaders established the Injury Prevention Center of Greater Dallas to create an injury- and violence-free Dallas. Housed at Parkland Memorial Hospital, the center is jointly funded by Parkland, Baylor Healthcare System, Texas Health Resources and Methodist Hospitals of Dallas. In 1996, the Injury Prevention Center led the effort to have Dallas designated by the World Health Organization as the first U.S. city to receive international Safe Communities certification.