Contact: Vanessa Wakeman
The Wakeman Agency
E: [email protected]
T: 212-500-5953 x110
For Immediate Release The YWCA of the City of New York and the Verizon Foundation Partner to Help Domestic Violence Survivors through Job Readiness and Financial Literacy
New York, NY ( April 22, 2013) – The YWCA of the City of New York today announced that it is the recipient of a $10,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation. The funding will support the YWCA’s Women’s Empowerment Network (WEN), which helps unemployed and underemployed women reenter the workforce. The Verizon funding will focus specifically on the 35% of WEN participant s who are domestic violence survivors by helping them to become economically independent.
“Our collaboration with Verizon is going to allow us to enhance our WEN program so that we can better address domestic violence issues,” said Danielle Moss Lee,CEO of the YWCA of New York City. “Domestic violence has become an epidemic; study after study indicates that financial dependence is one of the main reasons women stay in an abusive relationship.”
April Horton, Verizon Government Affairs official, said, “This partnership is much more than a financial contribution to the YWCA’s program. Verizon and its employees care a great deal about this issue and want to be involved with funding and as volunteers, working directly with the women who have faced so much hardship.”
The YWCA began increasing its focus on women impacted by domestic violence in July 2012, thanks to a partnership with The Allstate Foundation. In addition to its long-standing job training program, the YWCA
now also provides a weekly domestic violence support group and uses the Allstate Foundation’s Moving Ahead Through Financial Management curriculum, created specifically for survivors of domestic violence.
For more than 34 years, the Women’s Empowerment Network (WEN) at the YWCA of New York City has provided unemployed and underemployed women with job readiness and computer training, helping them gain the skills and confidence needed to enter or reenter the workforce. This is done through an intensive six-week training program, ongoing computer classes and referral services. Annually, WEN serves hundreds of women including domestic violence survivors, homeless women, partners of newly disabled wage-earners, career changers, women in recovery from substance abuse, downsizing casualties and under-skilled workers. For more information about YW programs and services, visit www.ywcanyc.org.
For more information about the Verizon Foundation, visit www.verizonfoundation.org. YWCA is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.
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