About 50 people interested in safety issues during a year of changing reality signed up for the free safety webinar for the greater Portland Jewish community, which was held Sept. 15.
Sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, the webinar featured panelists and handouts from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue for a community safety presentation. Topics included online safety for kids, cyber security basics, scams and home safety.
“This webinar was an excellent introduction to a variety of ways to stay safe in these days, including being vigilant when it comes to online and phone safety,” says Rachel Nelson, JFGP Director of Educational Initiatives & Intergroup Outreach. “It also highlighted the importance of having a plan and practicing it with your kids, especially with emergency evacuations” (see handout below).
The idea for the webinar was inspired by the first fire at Chabad House in SW Portland, apparently started by an electrical issue in a third-floor office that had been vacant for much of the pandemic. Standing outside the damaged building, JFGP’s President and CEO Marc Blattner and Regional Security Director Gene Moss talked about the need to share fire safety tips for buildings that are largely vacant as people continue to work from home. Gene realized there are also issues of protecting those buildings from crime as well as safety issues families are facing while living, working and studying in our virtual world.
“I wanted to present safety in broad brushstrokes,” said Gene. “The next ones (safety webinars) will focus on a specific aspect of safety for groups such as child safety and internet scams targeting the elderly.”
For information on future safety webinars, contact Gene at gene@jewishportland.org.