Business Services Industry

Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist; Earns Verizon Wireless HopeLine® Anti-Domestic Violence Award; Safespace of Miami To Receive $10,000 Grant For New Initiative

Business Wire, Sept 28, 2005

MIAMI -- Verizon Wireless has presented its national HopeLine(R) Law Enforcement Partnership Award to Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist for his department's outstanding efforts against domestic violence. In conjunction with the award, Verizon Wireless contributed $10,000 to Safespace, a Miami-based domestic violence shelter. The grant is to launch the agency's new program -- "Driving to a Safespace" - which is designed to help families impacted by domestic abuse achieve greater personal and financial independence.

"Verizon Wireless is very proud to honor and support the Attorney General's office and Safespace for their great work in protecting Floridians from domestic violence," said Mike Lanman, Florida region president of Verizon Wireless. "This is a very grave issue in our state and across the country, but we've shown we can make great strides against this problem when corporations, law enforcers and other agencies work together."

Crist was honored for leading his department in a variety of innovative efforts, including:

Cut Out Domestic Violence- a statewide program that provides hair-care professionals with information on how to help if they have a client who is being abused. The program has conducted more than 60 trainings and educated more than 780 salon professionals.

Safety Net- an effort that educates victims of domestic and sexual violence, their advocates, and the general public on ways to use technology strategically to help escape violence and find safety. The project also trains law enforcement officers and prosecutors on how to identify and hold perpetrators accountable for misusing technology.

The $10,000 HopeLine grant to Safespace will launch the agency's new initiative that helps domestic violence survivors purchase or pay for various costs of owning a car. Having reliable transportation is critical for abuse victims and their children not only for safety, but to obtain a job and build independence, said Elizabeth Baker, president of the Safespace Foundation board of directors.

"Our clients lives have been trapped in many ways," Baker said, "But this new Driving to a Safespace program will help them move on and move forward to better futures."

The $10,000 grant comes through the Verizon Wireless HopeLine program. Created 10 years ago, HopeLine puts wireless products and services to work to prevent domestic violence and raise awareness of the issue. Today, the multi-faceted program includes a successful phone recycling and re-use effort, financial support for regional and national non-profit domestic violence organizations, community and corporate awareness programs, and partnerships with agencies, professional sports teams, educational institutions and corporations nationwide. The program has collected more than 2 million phones and has donated more than $1 million to agencies and advocates for domestic abuse victims. The HopeLine Law Enforcement Partnership award was created last year, with the New Orleans Police Foundation and that department's Domestic Violence Task Force earning the inaugural honor.

HopeLine donations are accepted at Verizon Wireless Communications Stores nationwide. For additional information, visit http://www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline.> About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless owns and operates the nation's most reliable wireless network, serving 47.4 million voice and data customers. Headquartered in Bedminster, NJ, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE:VOD). Find more information on the Web at http://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 http://www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.>