Telecommunications provider awards Arab American community non-profit $20,000
Dearborn, Mich. – ACCESS, the nation’s largest Arab American community nonprofit, has received a $20,000 grant from Verizon, as part of the telecommunication provider’s HopeLine campaign to fight domestic violence.
Through the funding provided by this grant, ACCESS will conduct a series of trainings for religious leaders and school administration and staff that focus on intimate partner violence and gender equity. These trainings, organized by the ACCESS Domestic Violence Awareness and Treatment Program, will equip community leaders with the skills and awareness necessary to take action to prevent gender-based violence and to advocate for the implementation of positive messaging, policies, and practices that empower women and girls.
Verizon’s HopeLine campaign enables individuals to take action against domestic violence by donating second-hand wireless phones and accessories in any condition and from any service provider. Verizon recycles these devices, and utilizes the resulting funds to support domestic violence prevention organizations and programs nationwide. Last year alone, the HopeLine program contributed $7 million in cash grants to domestic violence organizations nationwide.
“With Verizon’s support, we will fight to achieve social change that will bring an end gender-based violence,” said Layla Elabed, Program Coordinator for the ACCESS Domestic Violence Prevention Program. “Through the education of girls and a shift in attitudes toward gender equity, we can help prevent domestic violence in our community,” she said.
ACCESS established its Domestic Violence Awareness and Treatment Program in 2006 through its Community Health and Research Center (CHRC).This program provides local survivors of domestic violence with psychiatric services, legal advocacy, financial assistance and referrals to safe housing and medical treatment. Through public outreach and education, this program also helps community members develop and implement strategies to combat domestic violence and to promote healthy, peaceful relationships.
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About ACCESS
Grounded in a grassroots commitment to serving our community, ACCESS has a 45-year history of providing health, education, employment and social services. An Arab American nonprofit of excellence, ACCESS empowers communities in Southeast Michigan to improve their economic, social and cultural well-being and extends this mission nationally through advocacy, arts, culture and philanthropy.
ABOUT VERIZON: Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York City, has a diverse workforce of nearly 162,700 and generated nearly $132 billion in 2015 revenues. Verizon operates America’s most reliable wireless network, with 113.2 million retail connections nationwide. The company also provides communications and entertainment services over mobile broadband and the nation’s premiere all-fiber network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers worldwide.
ABOUT HOPELINE FROM VERIZON: HopeLine® from Verizon puts our technology and the nation’s most reliable and largest wireless network to work in the community by turning no-longer-used wireless phones and accessories into support for domestic violence victims and survivors. It also helps protect the environment by disposing of wireless phones in an environmentally sound way.