For many victims of domestic violence, help is just a phone call away. But for those without a phone or in remote locations, fear is a fact of everyday life. Joann Conner is helping to connect victims of domestic violence by collecting discarded new and used wireless phones for the Wireless Foundation’s Call to Protect program.
Conner, vice president of Ann Teague Bonding Agency on East Forsyth Street, learned about the program through her bail bond professional association. For the last year, she has collected phones at quarterly association meetings and through advertising at her office. Today, she has just under 300 phones waiting to be shipped to the Call to Protect mailing location in Ann Arbor, Mich.
“We just felt felt it was a worthy cause,” she said. “They collect the phones as part of a nationwide program. They gather the phones whether they’re working or not. They reprogram the phones that work and fix the phones that are broken.”
The phones are given to domestic violence victims and allow instant no-charge access to help in case of emergency. In cooperation with wireless phone service providers, donated phones are programmed to dial 911 and one non-emergency number, such as a domestic violence shelter or a police non-emergency line.
“They distribute to domestic violence shelters so victims can go in public and take their kids to school or go shopping and feel safe,” said Conner. “Also, on Indian reservations there is no phone at all or no phone for miles and these phones will help.”