LEXINGTON. September 9, 2015. Today the Verizon Foundation announced the 2015 Kentucky HopeLine Drive which will collect used mobile phones and accessories and turn them into grants for three domestic violence-related programs in the state. The Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women (OPSVAW) is one of those programs; the grant award supporting creation of an experiential education course that will begin in the spring semester of 2016. The experiential education course is a joint project of the OPSVAW, the Department of Psychology, and the Department of Gender & Women's Studies. It will allow UK students to be placed with victim-serving agencies (including the Bluegrass Rape Crisis Center and Greenhouse17) in internships that offer hands-on learning for students while also providing support to these vital agencies.
In the course of speaking at the press announcement, Carol Jordan, executive director of the OPSVAW said, "Universities nationwide have unique responsibilities when it comes to our students. First, to protect all those who walk on our campuses and all those who learn in our classrooms; and second, to create innovative learning experiences so that when students graduate, they leave us with a better understanding of the world around them. The HopeLine Project and the unique course it will fund help us meet both aims."
Also speaking at the press conference was Brandie Cobb, a UK senior who holds the Verizon Wireless Women’s Empowerment Scholarship operated by the OPSVAW. Ms. Cobb commented, “HopeLine is a vital resource for survivors of abuse. It not only gives survivors a phone, it says to the victim that there are people who are supporting them in their time of need, that they are believed, and not alone.”
HopeLine® from Verizon turns no-longer-used wireless devices and accessories – in any condition from any provider – into cash grants and other support for domestic violence programs. Verizon grants and other support to help prevent domestic violence and to assist survivors in Kentucky have totaled more than $329,000 since 2012 (including this year’s grants). HopeLine also provides free wireless phones to survivors who need a phone that their abuser doesn’t know about.
The HopeLine Drive will last from September 9th through October 16th. Used wireless devices and accessories may be donated through the OPSVAW in Breckinridge Hall, Room 103. If you have an interest in dropping off a phone, contact 859.218.2499 or Laurie Depuy at laurie.depuy@uky.edu.
