Putnamville Correctional Facility donates 100 cell phones to CODA

Saturday, October 15, 2011

PUTNAMVILLE -- The Terre Haute branch of the Council on Domestic Violence (CODA) has received a donation of 100 cell phones from the Putnamville Correctional Facility.

Chad Evans, a correctional officer from Brazil, recently notified the staff of the correctional facility that the CODA was in need of cell phone donations.

"I was watching the news and heard that the CODA needed the phones for domestic violence victims," Evans explained. "I knew that we confiscated cell phones from offenders, and thought that this might be a great way to help others."

Yvonne Creekbaum, the assistant director for CODA, was overjoyed with the donation. Each phone they turn in, they receive a new one with GPS service as well as 3,000 minutes.

The phones will be given to victims of ongoing cases.

"When a victim is in distress, we will have the capability of tracking their location," Creekbaum said. "The new phone's GPS service will also enhance our ADT system."

Prison staff confiscates approximately 20 cell phones per month from offenders who obtain them through illegal means.

Over the past year, several hundred phones have been confiscated and are earmarked for donation to a company that will pay for the phones. The proceeds will be donated to the Correctional Professionals Assistance Fund of Indiana, a fund that assists the families of fallen correctional officers.

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