Kentucky Used-Mobile Phone Drive Will Support Domestic Violence Survivors Across Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Sept. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon, Yum! Brands Foundation, the Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System today announced their joint collaboration in the 2015 Kentucky HopeLine Drive Sept. 9–Oct. 16 to raise critical funds and awareness for domestic violence prevention in Kentucky. Nearly 150 participants in the Drive are inviting consumers to bring their no-longer-used wireless phones and accessories – in any condition, from any wireless carrier – to one of nearly 350 donation sites across the Commonwealth, including Verizon corporate store locations.

The Kentucky HopeLine Drive is also part of a national goal from HopeLine to collect 1 million phone donations in 2015. At the conclusion of the Kentucky drive, Verizon will present $50,000 in HopeLine grants to three organizations:

1. Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence, which mobilizes and supports member programs and allies to end intimate partner violence.
   Funded Program: KCADV Economic Empowerment Project helps domestic violence survivors get on their feet financially by helping them with large expenses – such as education, buying a house or a car, or starting a small business. This program helps survivors create an Individual Development Account (IDA), a restricted savings account, and KCADV matches their savings at a 4:1 ratio (1:2 for a car). The program also includes financial counseling to help survivors learn to set financial goals, create and live within a budget, understand credit and avoid predatory lending, as well as free tax preparation and no-interest microloans.
2. Legal Aid Society, which provides free legal services to the most disadvantaged in the community, including survivors of domestic violence.
   Funded Program: Collaboration and Advocacy to provide Safety and Empowerment (CASE) Project, a partnership between LAS, the Center for Women and Families, the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, and the Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs, to provide advocacy and representation to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. In January 2015, LAS expanded the CASE Project to provide services to college and university survivors of sexual assault, and train Title IX coordinators on college campus on how to comply with the law.
3. UK Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women, which works to enhance direct services to victims, legal response and legislative reform related to violence against women through policy research and analysis, and empirically driven advocacy and practice.
   Funded Program: Experiential Education Internship Program, a pilot program to place UK students as interns at the GreenHouse17 and the Bluegrass Rape Crisis Center, which will provide hands-on learning for students while also providing support to Lexington domestic violence organizations.

Comments from 2015 Kentucky HopeLine Drive Partners and Participants:

"Those affected by domestic violence are our sisters, daughters, mothers, colleagues, friends, and yes, sometimes our sons, brothers and fathers," said Laura Melillo Barnum, executive director of the Yum! Brands Foundation. "Despite the term 'domestic violence,' this scourge also seeps into the workplace, and other areas of our lives. This HopeLine Drive offers a simple way we can come together to make a difference. So why wouldn't we join this Drive?"

"We know domestic violence is a widespread problem that touches every part of Kentucky," KCTCS President Jay Box said. "Since KCTCS has colleges all across the Commonwealth, it made sense for us to be a partner in HopeLine. We believe it's a cause our students, faculty and staff will embrace and that it will serve as a catalyst for people on our campuses to discuss this important issue, and seek help, if needed."

"Verizon is one of only a handful of corporations that works on a national stage to address the issue of domestic violence," said Sherry Currens, Executive Director, Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

"Victims of intimate partner violence need hope," said Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad. "They need to know there are resources in this community that can help them change their circumstances and their future. Having quick access to these resources is critical. Thankfully, cell phones provided through Verizon's HopeLine give victims the access they need when they need it most."

"The numerous organizations that are stepping up to offer hundreds of donation sites during this second annual statewide HopeLine drive are making it easier than ever for Kentuckians to support survivors of domestic violence," said Lauren Love-Wright, President for Kentucky/Indiana/Michigan, Verizon. "We're grateful for our partnerships with each and every one of them, and pleased to turn their efforts, and the donations of Kentuckians, into support for programs that will help survivors transition to new lives, free from abuse."

"Raise your voices and help domestic violence survivors regain theirs by joining forces with Verizon's HopeLine Drive to leverage our resources and empower violence-free homes in Kentucky," said Roiann Ridley, Proprietor, Mackenzie's Floral and a domestic violence survivor. "As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, 'In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.'"

"Universities nationwide have a unique responsibility to protect our students and to create innovative learning experiences so that more students understand the reality of what abuse victims experience. The combination of safety for victims and increased education for all will aid in our efforts to end the nightmare of violence and abuse against women," said Carol Jordan, Executive Director, Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women at the University of Kentucky.

"HopeLine is a vital resource for survivors of abuse. It not only gives survivors a phone, it says to the victim that there are people who are supporting them in their time of need, that they are believed, and not alone," said Brandie Cobb, a University of Kentucky junior and an abuse survivor. "Because someone believed my story I was able to do the healing work and turn my life around completely." Cobb is the first recipient of the UK Verizon Wireless Women's Empowerment scholarship, created in 2012 for survivors of abuse.

About HopeLine From Verizon:
HopeLine® from Verizon turns no-longer-used wireless devices and accessories – in any condition from any provider – into cash grants and other support for domestic violence programs. Verizon grants and other support to help prevent domestic violence and to assist survivors in Kentucky have totaled more than $329,000 since 2012 (including this year's grants). HopeLine also provides free wireless phones to survivors who need a phone that their abuser doesn't know about.

Since 2001, HopeLine has donated $29 million to domestic violence organizations nationwide, and given more than 190,000 phones to shelters across the country for survivors to use. Donated devices that cannot be refurbished and resold are disposed of in accordance with Verizon's zero-landfill policy.

Verizon customers who are being abused or who are concerned about signs of potential abuse in a friend or loved one can dial #HOPE from any Verizon Wireless phone to reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233 [SAFE] and TTY 1-800-787-3224).

List of Kentucky Agencies participating in the 2015 Kentucky HopeLine Drive:

• Bingham Greenebaum Doll
• Frankfort Department of Corrections
• Frost Brown Todd
• Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence and its 15 member programs
• Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS will hold its Drive on all 70 campuses from Oct. 12 – Nov. 13, 2015)
• Kentucky Center for the Arts
• Kentucky State Police
• Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
• Legal Aid Society of Louisville
• Louisville Metro Government
• Louisville Metro Police
• Lexington Fayette Urban County Government
• Stoll Keenon Ogden
• University of Kentucky College of Dentistry
• University of Kentucky Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women
• 47 University of Kentucky Sororities and Fraternities
• University of Louisville Hospital - SAFE Services
• University of Louisville iTech Xpress campus technology store
• University of Louisville Law Clinic
• Western Kentucky University Gender & Women's Studies program
• Western Kentucky University Counseling & Testing Center
• Whole Foods Market
• Wyatt Tarrant and Combs
• YMCA of Greater Louisville
• Yum! Brands Foundation

About Verizon Wireless:
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering the promise of the digital world. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with 109.5 million retail connections nationwide. Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers worldwide. A Fortune 15 company with more than $127 billion in 2014 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of 178,500. For more information, visit www.verizon.com/news/.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150909/265018 

SOURCE Verizon Wireless

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