Sabra Moses once had to yell from her window for help from her abusive husband.
Now she'll have a free cell phone and service, donated by a telecommunications company through a program designed to give domestic violence victims a better means of calling for help.
"I have more freedom now," she said. "We used to not have a telephone at home, and one time I had to yell out of the window to get someone to call the police."
Moses' husband was sentenced to 18 months in jail, but she said he stalked her and her daughter most of last summer.
"We were followed everywhere," she said. "People take for granted going to the grocery store by themselves, but when I did it, I always worried that he'd be there."
Sprint PCS on Tuesday donated 35 cell phones to Women's Transitional Care Services, a Lawrence shelter for battered women.
"This should give them a lot more security and let them feel like they can go places," Sarah Terwelp, director of WTCS, said. "Often in domestic violence situations, women don't have access to a phone without her abuser being in the same room."
Sprint PCS' "Call to Protect" program is "something we like to do because we realize that our phones can be an important lifeline for women who need help quickly," company spokeswoman Kelly Feroli said. "It's very gratifying to know we're helping them protect themselves."
WTCS will receive and distribute the phones today. The phones will be programmed with three numbers 911 and two others chosen by WTCS and the user.
"We want them to have access to help at all times, no matter where they go," Terwelp said.
The program for battered women is the first one for which Sprint has donated phones on a nationwide scale, Feroli said. About 1,700 phones have been distributed in the last three months. The program should be completed this month.
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