Foundations Behavioral Health Receives $15,000 "Literacy for Life" Grant from Verizon Foundation

Doylestown, PA (January, 2006) – Foundations Behavioral Health is pleased to announce a $15,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation to support its Literacy for Life! Program, which helps students enrolled in Foundation’s LifeWorks Alternative School get a chance to succeed in life.

Literacy for Life! helps get students excited about books and reading and keeps each student challenged in reading while offering immediate feedback and data on their accomplishments and success. The program will provide every student with the technology and capabilities to use software programs to raise their reading level to the 50th percentile for all literacy skills.

Students referred to alternative school settings have several disadvantages with them as they walk through the door,” says Nancy DiNatale, Director, LifeWorks Alternative School at Foundations Behavioral Health. “They have deficits in academics, social skills, emotional maturity, low self-esteem, and often come from environments that are chaotic and unsafe. All of these factors contribute to very low levels in literacy skills - the building blocks to success. Focusing on literacy skills and making it the cornerstone of our school will help these students improve their reading, writing, and brush up on current skills.”

In the future, Foundations hopes to make these programs and technology available to the community. Plans include an enrichment program for students and their families to come together and strengthen their reading, writing and literacy skills, and evening tutoring to help identify individual strengths and weaknesses.

“Verizon is excited about this opportunity to support literacy and make a difference in the lives of adolescents in Bucks County,” said Daniel J. Reavy, Director-External Affairs, Verizon Pennsylvania. “The Verizon Foundation is helping to build more literate communities, through programs that bring technology skills to those in need. We applaud Foundations Behavioral Health for taking the initiative to tackle this need among its constituents.”

The Verizon Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications. The foundation awards grants to charitable and nonprofit agencies that focus on improving basic and computer literacy, enriching communities through technology, and creating a skilled workforce. The foundation uses its resources to develop partnerships in technology and connect them with organizations serving the needs of diverse communities, people with disabilities, victims of domestic violence, and the economically and socially disadvantaged. For more information on the foundation, visit www.verizon.com/foundation.

Foundations Behavioral Health is the only freestanding non-profit child and adolescent psychiatric hospital and residential treatment center in Bucks County. Since 1964, Foundations has served the mental health needs of area residents and their families. Families can access the Community Service Center, Outpatient Clinic, Partial Hospital or Day Treatment, Wraparound Services, the LifeWorks Alternative School and educational and family support programs.

For more information on our treatment and community programs and services at Foundations Behavioral Health, please visit the web site at www.fbh.com or call 215-345-0444.