Potential landlords and employers may already be reluctant to deal with homeless people and this communication obstacle makes it even easier to pass them by. Free voice mail programs are cropping up around the United States to help address this Catch-22 that keeps people without resources from connecting with opportunities to find jobs and homes. Community Voice Mail works just like a professional telephone message system, so there is no stigma attached to using the service. Each user has a unique telephone number which callers can use to leave private voice messages.
Users can retrieve their messages from any touch-tone telephone.
Community Voice Mail projects exist in dozens of towns and cities around the United States, including Raleigh, North Carolina. Weil is a Program Manager with Wake County Human Services' Cornerstone, which started Raleigh Community Voice Mail in 1994. She says that voice mail gives users a way to stay in touch with supportive family and friends, in addition to making critical contact with employment and housing prospects. In turn, those organizations can make voice mail available to any clients without reliable telephone access. The Raleigh program was established with the help of hardware and software donations, volunteer technical assistance, and support from the Community Voice Mail Federation.