News

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Aletheia House is the proud recipient of a grant from the Verizon Foundation to promote safe dating practices for young females.

The $10,000 grant awarded to Aletheia House will be used to introduce a new component called Safe Dates to its Ebony Pearls program, an existing HIV prevention and empowerment program for African American females ages 14-24. Safe Dates will consist of programming for current and former Ebony Pearls participants that focuses on healthy relationships and avoiding dating abuse. Because studies have shown that issues of HIV prevention and dating violence are closely related, the Safe Dates curriculum will address HIV and domestic violence prevention together to provide participants with the tools they need to make healthy, positive decisions about their futures.

The Verizon Foundation also awarded a grant to Classic Pearls, Inc., the non-profit arm of the Phi Iota Omega graduate chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. a community service organization focused on providing service through cultural, health and educational activities in the Birmingham area. Classic Pearls is using their grant to empower survivors of domestic violence to become financially independent of their abusers by offering a series of educational retreats. Classic Pearls has partnered with Aletheia House to recruit participants for their program.

“We are proud to support the critically important work that Aletheia House and Classic Pearls, Inc. are doing in the Birmingham community,” said Jonathan LeCompte, president, Verizon Wireless Georgia/Alabama region. “We are particularly pleased to see these two organizations come together to help each other serve domestic violence survivors, as we know that when non-profits partner on initiatives it expands their impact and helps to build the network of resources that communities need to fight this epidemic.”