Community Voice Mail Program Helps Homeless
A growing number of cities are using the national Community Voice Program, designed to connect homeless individuals to potential employers, social-service agencies, and family, the Associated Press reported Sept. 8.
The program, which was established in 1991, offers free voice mail to homeless people and others without phones. Individuals receive a phone number and a voice mailbox where they can record their own message. They can check their voice mail at any time from a regular or pay phone. The service costs the providing agency about $7 per number per month.
Currently, the service is used in 37 cities in 19 states. According to Community Voice Mail officials, the service helped more than 47,000 people find jobs and housing last year.
National organizers of the program plan to use a $2.5 million grant awarded by the Cisco Systems Foundation to expand the program to the country's 50 largest cities by 2008.
"The intangible that Community Voice Mail provides is hope," said national spokeswoman Patricia Bonnell. "No one e-mails you to tell you you've got the job. They call you. Without a phone number on your resume, you can't get a job."
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