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Verizon provided a number of critical communications services to the Edgewater Community Center following a devastating five-alarm blaze in Edgewater Borough on Jan. 21 that forced more than 1,000 to flee their homes.
The community center served as a central hub for displaced residents to get information, eat a hot meal, pick up donations and spend time until temporary housing became available.
“Verizon runs toward a crisis; not away from it,” -- Paul Sullivan, regional president of wireline operations
Verizon and Verizon Wireless set up in the gymnasium, offering residents free 4G LTE mobile hotspot MiFi devices and charging stations. Verizon FiOS representatives were on hand to help residents who lost their homes suspend their FiOS service for free and to address billing issues.
“We're really here to support the community,” said Melody Buchanan, a regional sales manager for Verizon. “A lot of people don’t think about their phone service at a time like this. So we are here to answer their questions and suspend their service and help them bring their service to another location.”
Verizon also dispatched an installation maintenance team to install complimentary FiOS television and Internet service in the community center so displaced residents could have access to free Wi-Fi while at the facility. Verizon also wired televisions in two rooms in the center with FiOS TV, one showing children’s programming and the other showing news.
“Verizon runs toward a crisis, not away from it,” said Paul Sullivan, regional president of wireline operations for Verizon New Jersey.
