Over $58,000 in Grants from Verizon to Qualified Students Interested in Studies to Help End Domestic Violence

(3BL Media) Minneapolis, MN - May 25, 2012 - Graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Minnesota School of Social Work who demonstrate a commitment to increase their education to serve the community by working to end domestic violence can apply for the Verizon Scholarships for Safe Lives.

In total $58,600, will be available in the Verizon scholarship program with grants from the company's philanthropic arm, the Verizon Foundation ($33,600) and the company's exclusive HopeLine® phone recycling and reuse program ($25,000). Scholarships will be awarded once yearly in the fall semester starting in 2012, and recipients will take specific coursework related to domestic violence prevention and intervention and will use the information gained through this coursework in internships. 

"Verizon's support for our next generation of leaders working to end violence in families is critical at a time of increasing costs for students and decreasing public budgets for social services," said Jeffrey Edleson, professor and research director in the University of Minnesota School of Social Work and a leading researcher on domestic violence. "These scholarships show how public-private partnerships can contribute to the common good."

Jennifer Witt, who teaches in the Family Violence Prevention undergraduate minor, said, "The scholarships help provide learning opportunities for students and support a more highly trained and knowledgeable community of leaders in the community working to end domestic violence."

"Verizon is a company focused not only on our business, but also our community," said Seamus Hyland, president-Great Plains Region, Verizon Wireless. "We are proud to support students who are planning to work on the awareness, prevention and direct services to end domestic violence."

This coming academic year $8,400 will be awarded to two graduate students with scholarships at $3,000 each and two to Family Violence Prevention minor students with scholarships at $1,200 each.

Undergraduate scholarship recipients will complete three courses in the minor and will complete 100 hours of service learning in a domestic violence agency. Graduate scholarship recipients will obtain their master's degree. They will take a minimum of one graduate-level course related to domestic violence and complete one graduate field placement (480 hours) in an agency that focuses on domestic violence intervention or prevention.

For more information about the Verizon Foundation, visit http://www.verizonfoundation.org/.

For more information about HopeLine from Verizon that turns no-longer-used cell phones into support for domestic violence victims and survivors or to donate no-longer-used devices, visit www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline.

For more information about the University of Minnesota School of Social Work, visit http://www.cehd.umn.edu/SSW/.