For Immediate Release

Date: April 20, 2007

Contact: Valerie Colvin - (301) 997-1300

Verizon Foundation donates $7,500 to

domestic violence services

St. Mary’s County, Maryland - Walden/Sierra received a $7,500 grant from the Verizon Foundation in support of domestic violence services for Southern Maryland residents.

Walden/Sierra’s Domestic Violence Program provides much-needed support for victims of domestic violence and their families, including emergency assistance and counseling. When a victim is in a domestic violence crisis situation, Walden counselors are available to provide emergency shelter and transportation, as well as medical accompaniment. Victims also receive follow-up counseling and referrals to other services such as legal assistance.

The Verizon Foundation grant will help support these critical services for victims, as well as Walden/Sierra’s efforts of expanding the Domestic Violence Program to its new office in Lexington Park, which opened in November 2006. A new children’s domestic violence counseling group is offered there that runs concurrently with an adult domestic violence support group.

Walden/Sierra is also a member of the St. Mary’s County Family Violence Coordinating Council, which is working to improve services and cooperation among agencies to provide a more efficient and effective system to deal with domestic violence incidents locally.

Among its core areas of interest, the Verizon Foundation supports initiatives that contribute to the safety and well-being of families. The foundation focuses much of its efforts on raising public awareness about domestic violence and working in partnership with nonprofits to help prevent domestic violence and assist victims.

For more information, call Walden’s 24-hour hotline at 301-863-6661.

Walden/Sierra is a nonprofit behavioral health agency that has been serving the Southern Maryland community through crisis intervention, counseling services and a continuum of substance abuse treatment since 1973.

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