Stopping Domestic Violence in Chicago, One Donation at a Time

Last week, the Chicago Destination Store (on Michigan Avenue) hosted Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez who came to help present two HopeLine grants to organizations in Chicago working to stop domestic violence in our community. The grants represent Verizon’s support of two main focuses of domestic violence organizations – those that offer support services and those that concentrate on prevention efforts.

• Verizon gave a $25,000 grant to the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network to help support a pilot project in the 14th District to partner with the Chicago Police Department, Chicago Department of Family and Support Services and the Cook County State's Attorney. It will also support the Medical Response Collaborative (MRC), which was created to shift the medical system's response to domestic violence to one of more active intervention.

• Verizon gave a second grant for $10,000 to Chicago Says No More. Chicago Says No More is a new advocacy organization aligned with the national NO MORE campaign that brings domestic violence agencies together around shared experiences to help make a difference. Funds will be used in their campaign to get more Chicagoans to visit the Chicago Says No More website to learn more about domestic violence and sexual assault, as well as to join other Chicagoans in taking a pledge to personally address the devastating pervasiveness of this kind of abuse.

Domestic violence impacts one in three women, one in four men and more than three million children in the United States. The only way to improve these statistics is for everyone to work together, starting a conversation that can lead to results that make a difference. "By leveraging the strengths of the businesses, government and non-profit communities, we can develop sustained solutions to help reduce and ultimately eliminate domestic violence," said Brian Pascoe, region president, Verizon. "The work being done with the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women's Network and Chicago Says No More will go a long way to help put an end to this national epidemic.” Wondering how you can help? Through Verizon collects no-longer-used wireless devices at any of our stores. Drop yours off today and we’ll either recycle or refurbish it. Proceeds go back into the community in the form of cash grants, such as the ones Verizon provided to these Chicago organizations.