Corazón de mi vida is a term of endearment used between family members and close friends to express that someone is at the center of their life. It also is the name of a national child safety initiative created by the National Latino Children’s Institute and supported by Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services.
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for Latino children after the age of one. Corazón de mi vida is working to save lives by informing parents that child safety seats work, if they are used properly. The Illinois Department of Transportation reports that 80 percent of child safety seats in Illinois are not installed correctly. To help change that, certified technicians in Chicago recently inspected the child seats in family vehicles to determine if they were properly installed. Fifteen safety advocates also are being trained to be certified bilingual child passenger safety technicians as part of the program and Ford Motor Company Fund donated 75 car seats for families in need.
“Corazón de mi vida builds on parents’ love for their children and provides them with the information they need to keep their children safe,” said Josie Garza, executive director, NLCI. “Ford Motor Company Fund’s involvement has helped us reach more Hispanic families throughout the country and build local infrastructure through trainings and partnerships with safety advocates.”
Cultural and language barriers are contributing factors to the alarming number of child traffic fatalities in the Latino community. Aimed at breaking these barriers, Corazón de mi vida capitalizes on the child-focused nature of the Latino culture in order to encourage the proper use of child safety seats and safety belts.
“We are proud to partner with the National Latino Children’s Institute and Ford on the Corazón de mi vida initiative,” said Gary Hannig, Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary. “Through education, parents will better understand the importance of selecting and properly installing child safety seats."
Corazón de mi vida has taken the message of child safety to 15 states from California and Arizona to Texas and Florida.
