Avon Foundation for Women Awards $200,000 Grant to The National Domestic Violence Hotline Gift will increase capacity to serve more victims of domestic violence
April 15, 2013 – The National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH) announced that it has received a $200,000 gift for 2013 from the Avon Foundation for Women to support NDVH’s efforts to answer calls from domestic violence victims, friends and family members. Every day of the week, 24 hours a day, NDVH has highly trained expert advocates available to talk confidentially with anyone affected by domestic violence. NDVH provides callers with lifesaving tools and immediate support to enable victims to find safety and live their lives free of abuse.
The gift is funding two new part-time advocate positions, which have just been filled, as well as additional relief advocates, including bilingual advocates, to help respond to thousands of calls from victims, their families and friends and even abusers. The Avon Foundation for Women’s Speak Out Against Domestic Violence program has been a strong supporter of the hotline, giving more than $500,000 to the organization.
“The Avon Foundation for Women’s Speak out Against Domestic Violence program is proud to be a long-time supporter of the National Domestic Violence Hotline in its fight to end domestic violence,” said Avon Foundation for Women President Carol Kurzig. “We are honored that our gift will directly affect those who are calling the hotline for assistance with domestic violence, further extending the number of calls the hotline is able to answer annually and bringing support to those who need it most.”
In 2012, nearly 53,000 calls for help to NDVH went unanswered due to a lack of resources. “In addition to our inability to answer every call, we have noticed a significant increase in Spanish-speaking calls to our emergency hotline and this grant will help us better meet the need for additional bilingual advocates to answer those calls,” said Katie Ray Jones, president of the National Domestic Violence Hotline. “We are so grateful to the Avon Foundation for Women for their generous support for 16 years and their continued partnership with us in the fight to end domestic violence.”
Currently, many Spanish-speaking calls to the emergency hotline are being routed to an outside language interpretation service. By keeping these calls inside, NDVH can provide a seamless service to callers as well as a decrease in the call waiting time. With the 2012 Avon gift, the emergency hotline was able to answer 31,522 calls.