Save the Michaels Wins Safety Advocate Award

Award sponsored by FirstGroup

Save the Michaels of the World raises awareness of prescription and other drug addictions. Abuse and misuse of these controlled substances leads to serious illness, depression, deaths from overdose and suicide, and the devastation of caregivers and loved ones. Save the Michaels House of Hope and Community Resources supports families during their loved one's journey through addiction and into remission. The organization provides a nurturing and supportive environment to parents, grandparents and spouses of addicted individuals, and promotes education, self-help and wrap-around care before, during and after treatment.

Meet the Other Finalists

CPS Energy, Xcel Energy

CPS Energy, based in San Antonio, and Xcel Energy, based in St. Paul, are recognized as a joint finalist for the Green Cross for Safety Advocate Award. In both states, existing move-over laws did not include utility workers and vehicles, creating a hazardous work environment for utility workers. CPS Energy worked with Texas legislators to expand the existing Move Over or Slow Down laws to include utility workers, with implementation Sept. 1, 2019. In Minnesota, Xcel Energy linemen Kellen Schmidt and Scott Knight worked with company subject matter experts and state legislators to expand the Ted Foss Move Over law to include two-lane roads, where many power lines are located, making the roads safety for utility, construction and emergency workers. Implementation occurred Aug. 1, 2019.

National Center for Rural Road Safety

Under MAP 21 and the subsequent FAST Act, the USDOT and FHWA established the National Center for Rural Road Safety in 2014 to empower rural road owners in implementing road safety practices, thereby reducing crashes and saving lives. The Rural Safety Center has developed and launched effective programs and services specifically for rural roads, including a digital gateway of rural safety resources, custom training videos, monthly webinar series, the Road Safety Champion Certificate Program, the Rural ITS Toolkit and much more. In its first five years, the Rural Safety Center has reached more than 4,450 participants, provided 1,450 training certificates, received over 50,000 visits to its website from organizations around the country, and conducted three National Summits on Rural Road Safety.