Bell Atlantic Mobile Helps Homeless Find Jobs and Victims of Domestic Violence Increase Personal Safety

Bell Atlantic Mobile Helps Homeless Find Jobs and Victims
of Domestiv Violence Increase Personal Safety

Wireless Phones and Voice Mail Box Donations In Southeast
Help 1,400 In Need

July 15, 1999

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- During the first six months of 1999, more than
1,400 individuals at 48 social service organizations in the Southeast
benefited from voice mail boxes and pre-programmed wireless phones
donated by Bell Atlantic Mobile, according to a recent survey of groups
participating in the program.

"Our efforts started in 1995 with 11 organizations and now we are
able to help close to 50," said Jerry Fountain, vice president of the
company's Southeast region covering North Carolina, South Carolina and
parts of Georgia. "Bell Atlantic Mobile has made it a priority to
increase the services we dedicate to our 'Wireless at Work...' program, to
benefit additional social service organizations and their clients each
year."

"Wireless at Work..." is Bell Atlantic Mobile's community
service program using the company's wireless technology to help
individuals and communities improve security and emergency
communications.

Over the past six months, the company's HopeLine® wireless voice mail
box program
have helped 324 individuals secure employment, 292 retain permanent
living quarters, 311 contact family and friends, another 233 contact social
services, 69 find child care and 138 to resolve health care issues. Since
1995, HopeLine has donated almost 600 voice mail boxes and provided
wireless service valued at more than $68,000 to 28 organizations in the
Southeast.

Also during that time, using donated wireless phones pre-programmed to
dial 9-1-1 and other emergency numbers, 62 victims of domestic violence
placed calls for personal safety and 31 used the phones to contact social
services. Since the program's Domestic Violence Initiative began in 1996
with a donation of 15 phones to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police
Department, Bell Atlantic Mobile has donated almost 150 pre-
programmed phones and service valued at approximately $60,000 to 20
organizations in the Southeast region.

The survey also collected several real-life examples of the program's
benefits to those most in need.

"One of our clients was brutally assaulted by her ex-
boyfriend," said Lynn Spence, executive director of Womenfolk
Unlimited in Rockingham, N.C. "Until she received a cellular
phone, she was afraid to leave her home without a weapon."

A resident at the Killingsworth Home in Columbia, S.C., recently used a
donated voice mail box to monitor the condition of her 6-year-old son
while he was in the hospital, according to Cynthia Martin, program
administrator at Killingsworth. "Her son was hospitalized in another
city and family members were able to keep the mother updated with his
condition by leaving messages on her voice mail box."

Editors' Notes:
Social service organization contacts: The following contacts will be
available for comment on their participation in Bell Atlantic Mobile's
"Wireless at Work..." program:

South Carolina:

• Cynthia Martin, program administrator, Killingsworth Home,
  Columbia, S.C., 803/771-6359.
• Monieca Hogg, director, Pilgrim's Inn, Rock Hill, S.C. 803/327-4227.

North Carolina:

• Sheila Corey, head social worker, Community Link, Charlotte,
  704/334-7288.
• Bill Benton, supervisor, Cleveland County Sheriff's Department,
  Shelby, 704/484-4831.
• Terri Looper, executive director, Shelter Home of Caldwell County,
  Lenoir, 828/758-0888.
• Cathy Curtis, counselor, UFS Victim Assistant, Charlotte, 704/336-
  4126.
• Nancy Isbamioly, director, Catherine's House, Belmont, 704/825-
  9599.
• Lynn Spence, executive director, Womenfolk Unlimited, Rockingham,
  910/997-4840.
• Natalie Simpson, director, Turning Point Shelter, Monroe, 704/282-
  4707.

Bell Atlantic Mobile owns and operates the largest wireless network in the
East, covering 120,000 square miles, and the largest chain of retail outlets
devoted exclusively to wireless voice, data and paging. Based in
Bedminster, NJ, Bell Atlantic Mobile has 6.4 million customers and 8,000
employees from Maine to Georgia and, through a separate subsidiary, in
the Southwest. Through its "Wireless at Work..." community
service program, the company uses its technology to help individuals and
communities improve security and emergency communications. Bell
Atlantic Mobile's parent, Bell Atlantic Corporation (NYSE:BEL) is one
of the world's largest wireless communications companies, with domestic
operations in 25 states and international investments in Mexico, Europe
and the Pacific Rim. For more information on Bell Atlantic Mobile visit:
www.bam.com; on global operations visit:
www.bellatlantic.com/worldwide.