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The Avon Foundation has awarded a one-year $50,000 grant to the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Ambulatory Care Network's (ACN) Family PEACE (Promoting Education Advocacy Collaboration and Empowerment) Program in collaboration with Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation (NMIC) to fund community outreach and interventions for children exposed to domestic violence.

Research suggests that every year as many as 10 million children witness some form of domestic violence, and that these children are at increased risk of being its victims and are more likely to perpetuate the violence as adults.

The "Speak Out Against Domestic Violence" grant will fund a NewYork-Presbyterian mental health provider, who will offer one-on-one psychotherapy for severely traumatized children. He or she will also work with NMIC to raise awareness of domestic violence services in the Washington Heights community by leading workshops for battered women on the impact of domestic violence on children and their development, and offering strategies to protect and nurture them. In addition, the mental health provider will perform outreach education at public elementary schools.

"We are proud that the Avon Foundation shares our mission of fighting domestic violence and its impact on children, and are grateful for their support. These funds will help us improve community awareness of the problem and further our commitment to preventing and treating the violence and its aftermath," says Dr. Marina Catallozzi, a pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian and assistant professor of clinical pediatrics and population & family health at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Mailman School of Public Health. She serves as director of the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Family PEACE Program.

For more information, patients may call 866-NYP-NEWS.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, based in New York City, is the nation's largest not-for-profit, non-sectarian hospital, with 2,242 beds. The Hospital has nearly 2 million inpatient and outpatient visits in a year, including more than 230,000 visits to its emergency departments — more than any other area hospital. NewYork-Presbyterian provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory and preventive care in all areas of medicine at five major centers: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Allen Pavilion and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division. One of the largest and most comprehensive health-care institutions in the world, the Hospital is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education and community service. It ranks sixth in U.S.News & World Report's guide to "America's Best Hospitals," ranks first on New York magazine's "Best Hospitals" survey, has the greatest number of physicians listed in New York magazine's "Best Doctors" issue, and is included among Solucient's top 15 major teaching hospitals. The Hospital's mortality rates are among the lowest for heart attack and heart failure in the country, according to a 2007 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report card. The Hospital has academic affiliations with two of the nation's leading medical colleges: Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

The Avon Foundation and Speak Out Against Domestic Violence

The Avon Foundation, an accredited 501(c)(3) public charity, was founded in 1955 to improve the lives of women and their families, and through 2008 Avon philanthropy worldwide has raised and awarded more than $660 million. Flagship programs of the Foundation are the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade and the Speak Out Against Domestic Violence program, which supports domestic violence awareness, education, direct services and prevention initiatives. To date, more than $10 million has been awarded to 350 domestic violence organizations across the U.S. Fundraising projects include special products sold by Avon Sales Representatives and at avonfoundation.org. Global expansion has brought the Speak Out Against Domestic Violence program to a dozen countries to help save lives worldwide.