Casa De Esperanza Receives $75,000 Donation From Verizon To Raise Awareness About Domestic Violence

ST. PAUL, MN and BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Casa de Esperanza, a leading national domestic violence prevention agency focused on Latinas, is receiving a $75,000 donation from HopeLine® from Verizon in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. HopeLine from Verizon is giving this donation to Casa de Esperanza to continue its efforts through its Hope Campaign, which challenges communities to take initiative against domestic violence.

“Casa de Esperanza is proud to be Verizon’s national Latino domestic violence partner and to help raise consciousness about the prevalence of the issue among Latino communities,” said Amy Sánchez, chief executive for external relations of Casa de Esperanza. “We are grateful for the variety of resources Verizon continues to share with us in order to make our work possible.”

According to McFarlane studies conducted in 2005, nearly one in four Latinas will experience intimate partner violence (IPV) in her lifetime, and while Latinas are abused at approximately the same rate as other women – 4.3 per 1,000 compared with 4.2 per 1,000, according to the Bureau of Justice – violence against Latinas is more likely to be underreported because of language and cultural barriers.

“There is a great need for domestic violence education within the Latino community. Though abuse exists in all kinds of families, Latino victims who face domestic violence have particular needs such as culture and language,” said Elva Lima, national executive director of community relations and Latino communications for Verizon Wireless. “Verizon Wireless has a longstanding commitment to raising awareness of domestic violence and aiding in its prevention, and through this donation, we know that Casa de Esperanza will continue to push initiatives that help the Latino community.”

Based on the belief that no one is born violent and violence is a learned behavior, the Hope Campaign was created by Casa de Esperanza and funded by HopeLine from Verizon. It was launched in 2009 and puts the work of ending domestic violence in the hands of individuals by providing tools, including PSAs and an interactive website to help recognize the positive impact words and actions can have against domestic violence. The program also provides bilingual prevention and intervention information such as webinars, manuals and DVDs for other organizations as well as encourages people of all ages to take the Pledge of Hope. To learn more about this program, visit www.casadeesperanza.org/hope-campaign.

HopeLine from Verizon puts the nation’s most reliable wireless network to work in the community by turning no-longer-used wireless phones into support for victims and survivors of domestic violence. Proceeds from the HopeLine program are used to provide wireless phones and airtime to victims of domestic violence and cash grants to local shelters and non-profit organizations that focus on domestic violence prevention, awareness and advocacy. Since the launch of the HopeLine phone recycling program in 2001, this initiative has collected more than 7 million phones, given out more than $7.9 million in cash grants, and distributed more than 90,000 phones with more than 300 million minutes of free wireless service for use by domestic violence survivors. For more information about HopeLine from Verizon and to learn how to organize a HopeLine drive during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, visit www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline.  Learn more at www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnkDUsmkQlk.

If you or someone you know is a domestic violence victim call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 to talk to a counselor. All calls to the National Domestic Violence Hotline are confidential.

For more information on Casa de Esperanza and the Hope Campaign, visit www.casadeesperanza.org. To learn more about HopeLine from Verizon, visit www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline.

About Casa de Esperanza
Casa de Esperanza is a national Latina organization whose purpose is to mobilize communities to end domestic violence. The organization’s National Latin@ Network for Healthy Families and Communities incorporates training and technical assistance, a public policy initiative in Washington, D.C., and a research center in Atlanta, GA, in an effort to advance effective responses to eliminate violence and promote healthy relationships. Headquartered in St. Paul, MN, Casa de Esperanza also works within communities by providing advocacy, emergency shelter, a 24-hour bilingual crisis line, and opportunities for peer education. For more information, please visit www.casadeesperanza.org.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G data network, serving more than 92 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 79,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

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