Richmond County DA and Verizon Wireless Join Forces To Combat Domestic Violence In Staten Island

STATEN ISLAND, NY — Richmond County District Attorney William Murphy joined Verizon Wireless today to help women in Staten Island who are threatened by domestic violence. The initiative will provide emergency wireless phones, HopeLine® wireless voice mailboxes and clothing for the local Safe Horizons shelter and the District Attorney's Special Victims Bureau.

As part of its ongoing commitment to combat domestic violence, Verizon Wireless will provide 10 wireless phones pre-programmed to dial 9-1-1 and Safe Horizon's city-wide domestic violence hotline. Both the shelter and the DA's office will lend the wireless phones to domestic violence victims to carry with them to call for help in an emergency.

"Having wireless phones in hand will allow women in threatening situations to go about their day -to-day lives with less fear," Murphy said. "They can go to work and take their children to school secure in the knowledge that if the abuser appears, they can call for help."

In addition to the emergency phones, Verizon Wireless HopeLine® voice mailboxes will help women at risk communicate more easily with prospective employers, landlords and other social services agencies. This service, offered at no charge, provides shelter residents with a vital link to the outside world. The availability of a voice mailbox helps a domestic violence victim maintain a sense of privacy as well as eliminate the stigma of living in a shelter.

Charles Hand, president of Verizon Wireless' New York Metro Region said, "These women are survivors from every walk of life who deserve all the support and assistance we can give them. At Verizon Wireless, we continue to be humbled by their strength and proud to provide them with the wireless technology that can help them rebuild their lives. "

Verizon Wireless also is donating company jackets, shirts and hats to the Safe Horizons shelter.

"As the nation's largest provider of domestic violence services and the largest domestic violence shelter provider in New York City, Safe Horizon is pleased to be the recipient of this generous donation from Verizon Wireless, which continues to work as a corporate leader in aiding victims of domestic violence," said Gordon J. Campbell, Chief Executive Officer, Safe Horizon.

Since its inception in 1995, the HopeLine community service program has allowed Verizon Wireless to give back to the community by bringing its wireless products and services to various groups in need throughout the company's service area. Domestic violence prevention and education is the company's chief community focus. Verizon Wireless has donated or recycled nearly 45,000 phones and provided more than 200 HopeLine voice mailboxes to organizations throughout the New York metro area.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless is the largest wireless communications provider in the U.S. with more than 27 million wireless voice and data customers. The coast-to-coast wireless provider was formed by the combination of the U.S. wireless businesses of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD), including Bell Atlantic Mobile, AirTouch Cellular, GTE Wireless and PrimeCo Personal Communications. Verizon Wireless has a footprint covering more than 90 percent of the U.S. population, 49 of the top 50 and 96 of the top 100 U.S. markets. The company, headquartered in Bedminster, NJ, is 40,000 employees strong. Reporters and editors can find more information about the company on the Web at http://www.verizonwireless.com.

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