Used cell phones aid abuse victims

The New York City Department of Sanitation (DOS) has teamed up with the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence (OCDV) and Verizon Wireless to recycle used cell phones to aid victims of domestic abuse.
Verizon has run its HopeLine program for 12 years but first partnered with the OCDV and the DOS’s Bureau of Waste Prevention in the spring of 2008 for a collection that generated 1,100 pounds of cell phones across the city, 254 pounds of which were gathered in Queens.
The HopeLine program turns “trash into treasure,” said Verizon spokesperson Kimberly Ancin, who explained that the cell phone giant refurbishes, recycles or sells donated phones and turns the proceeds over to domestic violence advocacy groups.
While Verizon initially provided domestic abuse victims with phones that only dialed 9-1-1, free phones for victims currently come with 3,000 minutes of airtime and voicemail boxes.
Survivors of domestic abuse can now use their phones to speak with advocates and attorneys, said Ancin, who considers the refurbished phones “a life building tool.”
“Many of us take our cell phones for granted,” Yolanda Jimenez, Commissioner of the OCDV, said in a statement. “But for a woman who is being abused or stalked, it is often her first line of defense.”
The HopeLine program is also a boon from an environmental standpoint. Phones that cannot be refurbished are recycled through an Environmental Protection Agency-certified company.
“We’re always interested in programs that encourage reusing items that otherwise might end up in the waste system,” Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty said in the statement. “When you donate your old phone to HopeLine, you’ll not only give a product a second life - you’ll also give a family in need a second chance at life.”
The first phone collection of the fall season in Queens will take place on Saturday, September 20 at Forest Park’s Bandshell Parking Lot. HopeLine phone donations are accepted throughout the year at all Verizon Wireless Communications stores in New York City. For more information visit www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline.