In 2012, Verizon Wireless’ philanthropic arm, the Verizon Foundation, donated more than $450,000 in grants to non-profit organizations in Illinois and Wisconsin.
The Verizon Foundation helps people to live healthy, safe and independent lives by addressing disparities in education, health care and sustainability. Since 2000, the Verizon Foundation has invested more than half a billion dollars to improve the communities where Verizon employees work and live.
As part of the Foundation’s focus on health care, many resources are also dedicated to domestic violence prevention, complementing Verizon Wireless’ HopeLine® program, which turns unused cell phones into support for domestic violence victims and survivors. Dollars are invested in organizations that provide education, prevention, victim relief and empowerment resources.
Here are some examples of how we were able to assist non-profits in Illinois and Wisconsin:
Illinois
Continuing to support organizations with programming to prevent domestic violence, a donation was given to the Lake County Crisis Center in Zion to support its Healthy Dating Program. Offered in 17 area schools, presentations teach warning signs and provide youths with local community resources.
STEM (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics) programs are becoming increasingly important in helping make students more prepared for the workforce. Tomorrow’s Youth Foundation in Calumet will use donated funds to create a fun math and science enrichment program that will help students connect principles learned in the classroom to real life.
The DuPage Children’s Museum in Naperville will use funds from Verizon to support its Community Access Network initiatives. The goal of the initiatives is to make the museum and its STEM education activities available to those who may face barriers to accessing the museum because of financial, social or physical struggles.
Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence in Madison has been a long-time advocate for domestic violence prevention. It is using the Verizon Foundation donation to help plan and prepare teen-focused workshops for their statewide conference being held later this year for advocates and survivors from across the state.
In Oshkosh, the Boys and Girls Club will support its afterschool homework tutoring and mentoring programs. These programs offer daily educational enrichment opportunities including library field tripsand healthy habits cooking classes.
Sojourner Family Peace Center in Milwaukee is dedicated to assisting women affected by domestic violence in rebuilding their lives. Through its Life Skills Program, Verizon’s grant will help provide individual mentoring and group education to promote economic empowerment and self-sufficiency. This is done through goal planning, job readiness training and higher education assistance.
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