Day Seven: Is Access to Technology a Luxury or a Necessity?

Is access to technology a luxury or a necessity? That's the question Community Voice Mail (a free voicemail service) poses.

How many of us would feel out of sorts if we didn't have a phone? Our daily facebook updates? The internet to look-up the answer to a random musing? Now imagine what it is like for those who are homeless. How would a potential employer contact you for an interview? How would the doctor let you know the results of your tests? How could family members let you know they were thinking of you? Life without a phone line can be a a life sentence keeping you imprisoned on the street.

Community Voice Mail was started in Seattle in 1992. A company donated 145 voicemail lines to homeless job-seekers and a mere 2 months later, 70% of them had jobs! (cvm.org )CVM started in Vancouver in February 2010 and is managed by Vancouver Lu'ma Native Housing Society. Within 5 minutes (and the help a staff person and a script to help with a professional message) anyone can have their own voicemail.

A benefit of CVM is that it allows the system manager to issue broadcast messages. These messages can alert users of local events, weather alerts, shelter information or even "bad john" warnings. Prior to CVM folks relied on a message board at Carnegie Hall to get replies from job interviews, messages from family or calls from their doctor's office. The Downtown Eastside Residents community website (dtes.ca) offers a personal story from Chrystal, under the "Recent News Postings".


Sometimes it's the simplest ideas that have the greatest impact!