FR OM GYM CLASS

0011

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' 1 " --

TO HEALTH CLUBS

Apartment Residents
Have Their Eyes Peeled

ALAN HITSKY ASSOCIATE EDITOR

to do in case of fires and torna-

does, general safety instructions,
heating and cooling issues, and
procedure to follow with the
goodnight tags" — the doorknob
signs.
"The people feel represented,"
said Prentis resident Shulamith
Filler, wearing her yellow VEW
button. "A Russian resident last
week saw my button and asked
me what my responsibilities
were. I kidded him and told him,
`It's to see that you behave.' He
laughed."
Ms. Magar said, "We want
more representatives because it
allows us to watch out for each
other."
"The majority go along with
this," VEW volunteer Frieda Kolb
added. "You always have a few
who don't want to participate."
Oak Park Officer Jeff Brack-
ett, who conducted training in the
program, said of the residents,
"They're really pumped up over
this. They now know when and
how to call us, and this gives
some vitality to the volunteers —
they feel they have a purpose."
Officer Brackett expects to con-
duct review meetings with the
volunteers six times a year. Fed-
eration Apartments staff period-
ically train all the residents in
safety procedures.
Iris J. Mickel, Prentis admin-
istrator, said the program was in-
augurated after two residents
were accosted in nearby Roth-
stein Park. "No one thought to
call 911," she said.
Since that incident, Prentis
has improved its lighting, smoke
and fire-alarm systems, and now
visitors to the building are greet-
ed by VEW volunteers.
Officer Chris Petrides, Oak
Park's fire inspector, helped Of-
ficer Brackett lead fire-safety

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Officer Pbtrides explains electrical hazards to Esther Frances Friedman.

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er name is on her door. It's
also on the sign by the el-
evator: Esther Frances
Friedman, floor represen-

tative.
Ms. Friedman, an 11-year-res-
ident, is a volunteer in Prentis
Federation Apartment's new Ver-
tical Eye Watch (VEW) program.
Her duties include checking twice
a day on her neighbors.
If the sign on their door knob
isn't turned in the right direction
by 11 a.m., Ms. Friedman knocks
loudly. If she doesn't get an an-
swer, she calls the Prentis office.
In the last few months, fellow
Prentis resident and VEW vol-
unteer Ellen Magar has rescued
two neighbors who fell, and could
not get up, in their apartments.
VEW is an expansion of those
daily visits to each resident. It is
modeled after high-rise programs
in other cities.
A collaboration of Federation
Apartments and the Oak Park
Public Safety Department, "it's
based on the Neighborhood

Watch program," said Oak Park
Lt. Karl Woodard.
Residents have undergone six
training sessions in the last two
weeks. Floor representatives and
VEW volunteers receive a man-
ual covering their duties, what

Vertical Eye Watch: Officer Jeff Brackett, Esther Frances Friedman, Sidney
Goldman, Frieda Kolb, Lt. Karl Woodard, Ellen Magar, Iris Mickel, Shulamith Filler
and Officer Chris Petrides.

if