Grand Rapids, Michigan-Area Domestic Violence Survivors Benefit From Verizon Wireless Grant

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Domestic violence survivors and their children in the Grand Rapids area will benefit from a $5,000 donation made by Verizon Wireless to Safe Haven Ministries in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The grant will help fund the organization’s emergency relocation program, which secures safe travel for women and their children needing to flee the county or state to a different domestic violence shelter. The money will also be used to purchase cab and bus vouchers for women and children needing local transportation to and from support groups, Safe Haven Ministries and important appointments.

“We’re so grateful to Verizon Wireless for making it possible for us to serve our clients in this way,” said Safe Haven Ministries Executive Director Jillaine Harkema. “In the past six months, we’ve seen the need to provide our clients with emergency transportation dramatically increase based on the danger they are in. Though relocation is not ideal, sometimes it’s the only option because of the graveness of their situations. This gift not only helps with emergency relocation; it also helps us serve those who need transportation assistance to connect them to other important community resources in town. All of this will ultimately help our clients begin their healing process and move into stable and safe situations.”

The gift was made possible in part by Verizon Wireless’ HopeLine® program, which turns no-longer-used wireless phones into support for survivors of domestic violence. HopeLine’s national phone recycling and reuse program collected nearly 1.13 million phones in 2008 and has collected more than 5.6 million wireless phones since 2001. Over the past four years, Michiganders have turned in 150,000 phones to Verizon Wireless’ HopeLine program.

“Domestic violence affects one in four American women during their lifetime,” said Greg Haller, president–Michigan/Indiana/Kentucky Region, Verizon Wireless. “I encourage everyone to dig through their closets, ask friends and family members for their used cell phones and accessories and donate this old equipment to our HopeLine program. You can help make a difference in the lives of domestic violence survivors right here in Michigan.”

HopeLine wireless phone donations are accepted at all Verizon Wireless Communications Stores across the nation. Verizon Wireless encourages everyone who plans to give a phone to HopeLine to make sure service on that device is discontinued and to erase any personal data on the phone. Phones given to the HopeLine program are refurbished and resold for reuse, or disposed of in an environmentally sound manner.

For more information on Verizon Wireless’ HopeLine program, visit www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s most reliable and largest wireless voice and data network, serving more than 86.6 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with more than 86,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: 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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