Two local teens work to keep Angelenos safe and ‘beep’-free
FIX THE BEEP girls (left to right) Rowan Carney and Dylan Foley assembling kits.
Two local teens are on a mission to make sure Angelenos have working smoke alarms in their residences.
Dylan Foley of Hancock Park and Rowan Carney of Wilshire Park started their nonprofit, Fix the Beep, two years ago. Prior to that time, neither girl had grand plans to become the safety ambassadors they are today.
The mission began when Carney’s father had noticed a lot of beeping in the background of a video the family had been sent from a teacher and her class. It turned out that many educators were hearing beeps while teaching on Zoom. Realizing the beeping came from out-of-order smoke alarms, the girls began researching the problem and, ultimately, decided to step forward and take action.
During the pandemic, Foley and Carney discovered that many people don’t realize how much of a safety issue an out-of-order smoke alarm can be.
They also learned that faulty smoke alarms are a common problem in low-income areas. Sometimes people don’t have the resources to change the batteries; some tenants don’t understand their rights; and other tenants are worried they will get in trouble if landlords come in and realize how many people are living in the dwellings. Whatever the reasons, “It’s very dangerous,” said Carney. It’s also required that landlords install and maintain smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.
With their eyes newly opened, the girls wanted to help people to be safer in their homes by making the testing and replacement of batteries more accessible.
With that goal in mind, Fix the Beep was born.
“The first meeting was with our parents… everyone was being so collaborative and was wanting to help,” said Foley. The team started making kits that would include a battery tester, two types of batteries, bilingual pamphlets and a magnet with a QR code to access fixthebeep.org.
It just so happened that Foley’s elementary school, The Center for Early Education, was giving a community service alumni award to four former students. The girls applied and were awarded $1,000 that helped start their nonprofit.
Their first partnership was with Flower Truck LA, an organization that does pop-up flower shops around the city and also teams up with local charities. A weekend partnership helped the girls raise $5,000 and started to get the word out about Fix the Beep.
The duo also has partnered with A Sense of Home, an organization dedicated to preventing homelessness by creating homes for kids aging out of the foster care system. “A lot of our kits are given to young adults moving out of the system, so that they’ll have them in their first apartments,” said Carney.
Family Fair
Most recently, Fix the Beep partnered with My Safe LA at the Larchmont Family Fair in October. My Safe LA works to help people prepare for, and survive, disasters, but the organization’s representatives can only go into homes with a landlord’s permission. Partnering with My Safe LA to get Fix the Beep kits into the hands of actual residents — many living in apartments — was an effective way to help keep even more Angelenos safe.
The Family Fair booth “turned a lot of heads at the Fair,” said Foley. “One woman stopped by and told us that her friend had died because his smoke alarm wasn’t working… he didn’t know there was a fire.”
DYLAN Foley, Rowan Carney and firefighter Keira Coblentz take a break from filming a fire safety video.
The girls have visited fire stations twice — once to make a fire safety video with the first female firefighter at Station #64 in San Dimas.
Foley, a senior at Brentwood High, and Carney, a senior at Immaculate Heart, both plan to attend out-of-state universities. They are excited to learn how other areas are handling the issue but are committed to keeping Fix the Beep strong in their fire-prone home state.
“We made this from the ground up, and we are giving back and helping people. It’s changed my perspective,” said Carney. Foley agreed, “This experience has reinforced what I love and want to do,” she said. “I’m very interested in business and innovation… helping a business give back to a community or even helping with marketing for nonprofits.”
For more information, visit fixthebeep.org.
Category: People