The Stephanie and Barry Zekelman Foundation makes $1 million investment in the Children’s Safety Village

Zekelman Safety Village on Forest Glade Drive in Windsor, June 18, 2026.

The Stephanie and Barry Zekelman Foundation is making a significant investment in the Children’s Safety Village.

The foundation is providing $1 million to the safety village on Forest Glade Drive in Windsor.

Barry Zekelman says the foundation is proud and happy to be investing in the village.

He says it’s a great facility for the city and county.

“It really serves children JK through grade 6 and serving all Essex County school boards,” he says.

Zekelman says partnering with the village is important to the foundation.

“We’re proud to partner at that facility with the police, the fire, EMS, educators, and community organizations, and it’s about building a culture of safety and awareness with our young residents of the city and keeping them safe and having them grow up here in a safe community,” says Zekelman.

He says the funding will be used to staff, maintain the facility, and conduct ongoing education.

“We’re one part of the solution,” he says. The community is really has really banded together like it always does here in Essex County. Tremendous business partners and community partners that have done things to upgrade the facility, to bring it back up into what we consider top-notch operational excellence."

The village will also be renamed the Zekelman Safety Village.

The change is being described as a ‘new era for the beloved community institution’ and reinforcing its mission to provide hands-on safety education to children and families across the region.’

The safety village has been operating for decades and educates students from JK to Grade 6 with essential life skills through immersive, real-world experiences focused on road safety, pedestrian awareness, emergency response, fire prevention, and community engagement.