Funds to support agency’s shelter, counseling services and community education program

Verizon Wireless recently awarded a HopeLine® grant of $30,000 to SafeHouse Denver, the only agency in the City of Denver providing both emergency shelter and nonresidential support services specifically for victims of domestic violence and their children.

This grant will support SafeHouse Denver’s shelter, its counseling services, and its community education program. SafeHouse Denver’s shelter provides 26 beds plus cribs for women and their children needing to escape an abusive home. Last year, SafeHouse Denver provided 8,647 nights of shelter to 316 women and children. For those who do not need shelter, SafeHouse also operates a nonresidential Counseling & Advocacy Center, where more than 390 women received individual counseling and 76 women participated in support groups in 2006. SafeHouse also provided 81 children with nonresidential support groups and individual counseling last year. An essential part of SafeHouse Denver’s prevention efforts is the community education program. Through this program, SafeHouse Denver makes presentations and provides materials on domestic violence for schools, hospitals, community groups, businesses and more. Last year, SafeHouse reached an estimated 3,829 people with educational presentations about domestic violence.

“This generous donation from Verizon Wireless will help us to continue to provide critical services to those affected by domestic violence,” said Ellen Stein Wallace, executive director of SafeHouse Denver. “As we celebrate our 30th anniversary in 2007, we are reminded of how far we have come in providing services to those who need them. This progress would not be possible without the support we receive from Verizon Wireless.”

“When we began the HopeLine program more than a decade ago, our primary mission was to put phones in the hands of domestic violence victims for emergencies. Today, recycling makes more phones available for them and generates funds – from the sale of refurbished phones – that are donated to non-profit organizations like SafeHouse Denver to help domestic violence victims in the life-rebuilding process,” said Melanie Braidich, regional president of Verizon Wireless.

HopeLine phone donations are accepted at all Verizon Wireless Communications stores across the nation. For more information about HopeLine, visit www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline.