Sheriff’s Department Provides Free 911 Cell Phones to Seniors

Information provided by Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department

Every day, seniors are vulnerable to crime, elder abuse, prolonged illness and residential hazards when they are unable to call 9-1-1 for emergency assistance when they do not have access to a phone.  In order to help seniors feel safer, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department is providing free cell phones to those in need through its 9-1-1 Cell Phone Donation Program.

Several requests per week come through the sheriff’s department from seniors who do not have a phone to call 9-1-1 in the event of an emergency.  Through the 9-1-1 Cell Phone Donation Program, the department hopes to quickly put phones in the hands of seniors and enabling them to make emergency calls from any location.

Sheriff Eileen Whalon Behr came up with the idea to focus on collecting cell phones from the many county employees and Montgomery County Bar Association members in hopes of eliminating the waiting list for a phone.  Donations from the general public are also welcome.

“Hundreds of county and legal personnel come through the county buildings every day, and most of them are cell phone users,” Behr said.  “Focusing on these two groups will help us collect many more phones.”

The donated phones will be collected from five drop-off points on a weekly basis.  Once they are cleaned and matched with a charger, the phones will be distributed to seniors on the department’s waiting list.  No cellular service or phone number is needed to make emergency calls with the donated phones.  As long as a cell phone can be powered up and locate a network, it can connect to

9-1-1 services. 

Clearly marked drop-off containers for phones and chargers are in the following locations:

• Montgomery County Courthouse, Main St. and Swede St. entrances, Norristown, Pa.   19401
• One Montgomery Plaza security post, 425 Swede St., Norristown, Pa.   19401
• Human Services Center security post, 1430 DeKalb Pike, Norristown, Pa.   19404
• Youth Center security post, 54-550 Port Indian Road, Norristown, Pa.   19403
• Willow Grove Annex security post, 102 Old York Road, Willow Grove, Pa.  19090

For further information on the 9-1-1 Cell Phone Donation program, please contact Dep. David Cavaliere at the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department by calling 610-278-3335 or email him at dcavalie@montcopa.org.  Visitwww.montcopa.org/sheriff for more details.