I’m a big believer in corporate responsibility. That is, I think big corporations should reach out and do more for people in their communities, or use whatever means they have to contribute positively towards society. Surprisingly, the Vancouver technology scene is fairly active in this area, and I’ve witnessed many technology-driven events in this city geared towards feeding people in the Lower East Side, helping acquire clothing, etc.
So today, I was rather pleased to see an announcement from one of the largest technology companies around. Google has just announced that they are going to give every homeless person in San Francisco their own phone number with permanent voicemail. For those people that are trying to obtain jobs, or waiting to receive health-care, having a valid callback number where someone can reach you can be a huge deal.
I sent the article to David and asked for his take on it, and he thought it was a good idea (something hopefully he can comment on more here). I also fired off a few quick emails to people I know at Google about potentially doing something similar in Vancouver, so we’ll see.
It’s a nice gesture by a large company, and I hope it makes a difference.
Kudos to Google. Seems like a great step in the right direction. I like it… Empowering.
Yup, big time kudos. It’s unfortunate governments are unwilling to provide the safety net, but at least some corporations are doing something to plug the hole.
Holy shit. That is impressive. I hope it catches on with other companies, and in other places.
After reading about the Rent-A-Tits, this was mind-numbing in a fantastic way.
Gah. That’s freakin’ brilliant. A phone number is such a significant barrier for the homeless, yet not one that ever really gets thought about. What I also hope is that the social services in SF take advantage of it as well, to do things like reminder calls about appointments or to let people know when new services become available.
It’s nice to see that some businesses do, in fact, have something resembling a soul.
This is good to hear… The SF Guardian has a good eye opening article http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/gsf/2008/02/five_days_homeless_the_journal.html
here…I don’t know how to linky the thing but copy/paste works. The way ol’ Gavin “helps” I am glad that Google is stepping in and being proactive.
Lots of little things go a long way. It’s awesome, and hopefully it inspires others as well.
Anyone read the one comment on the story that link leads to?
“so people that earn a living have to pay for service, and those who don’t get it free?”
*sigh*
How will they hook up a phone if they don’t have a house? *confused*
That’s great for the streetwalkers of San Francisco. I also think that businesses (both public and private) should give back to their communities. On that note, Dale, has Brave New Code ever considered doing some work for a not for profit organization. Hit me back if you’re interested.
What they are talking about is basically a voice mail service. So you’d give people that number, and they would leave you messages. You could check them using a pay phone or whatever. Not perfect, but better than nothing.
Wow, that sounds wonderful.
i think that is such a great idea and about time.
A small gesture that could make the world of difference to some one who really needs it.
bravo!
[quote comment=”43795″]
What they are talking about is basically a voice mail service. So you’d give people that number, and they would leave you messages. You could check them using a pay phone or whatever. Not perfect, but better than nothing.[/quote]
Better than nothing…. totally.. They made the effort, that is what counts… what a neat story..
Hmm, that does sound like a potentially good idea. If they have to use it often then the use of change for pay phones may become an issue, but as many have stated, this does seem like a step in the right direction and I am impressed with Google for taking the initiative.
…the last post started with a picture of breasts though, and that set the bar pretty high.
[quote comment=”43813″]If they have to use it often then the use of change for pay phones may become an issue[/quote]
I’m certain that you could setup a toll free number that pointed to the voicemail login system, and I’m sure that you could also place a collect call to the system and a prerecorded message would start out by saying “Operator, we will accept all collect charges”. Those are tiny details, this is an easy win for Google with the resources they have available to them.
Kudos to Google for doing something.
And, aside from the obvious benefits of this voicemail arrangement, I’d imagine it’ll also be a bit of boost to the self esteem of those with nothng.
[quote comment=”43768″]Anyone read the one comment on the story that link leads to?
“so people that earn a living have to pay for service, and those who don’t get it free?”
*sigh*[/quote]
That’s an extremely easy argument to make…but there’s also an extreme benefit to the idea.
When I watch and hear stores that center on Vancouver’s lower east side, they always focus on the struggles families face when their loved ones are forced into homelessness. They end up loosing contact however limited all together. I can’t imagine the pain families face if their son/daughter/mother/father goes completely missing – and then only find out about their death months, possibly years after the fact.
At the very, very least, it will be a reliable method of communication between the families – and really, employed or not, that should be the top priority.
It’s definitely a start in helping these people get their lives back on track. It’s amazing just how important something like having a phone number is. The next trick would be to get them a permanent address. Good on Google for this little endeavor.
what a great idea, hopefully others will take their example and so the same
I used to work in an employment and financial assistance branch in Ottawa and that was one of the biggest problems our clients had when attempting to get a job. they were unreachable.
It’s not only the homeless, many people can’t afford to have landlines either. Most Financial assistance centres offer complimentary phones, this is another option for checking messages.
Good on Google. Every little bit helps.
[quote comment=”43795″]
What they are talking about is basically a voice mail service. So you’d give people that number, and they would leave you messages. You could check them using a pay phone or whatever. Not perfect, but better than nothing.[/quote]
Oh… I get it… *dumb*. Lol. That’s definately a very cool idea.
Good for google
Corporations are people to
This is definitely strategic. Google around and check out the Google Phone, which is supposed to be released sometime this year. It will come with a free subscription package, and they’ll embed advertising within the package somehow, and perhaps, though I’m not sure on this point, mine your conversations for marketing data.
As to Duane’s point on corporations doing more to help the communities in which they operate. I agree, however, I take objection to a one dimensional villification of corporations. It is a popular argument to blame corporations for our social and environmental problems; however, this view absolves consumers of the responsibility for their consumption choices, which ultimately drive market conditions to a far greater extent than the decisions made in board rooms about donating to charities etc.
Well, Google is indeed thinking about releasing a phone (and they are working on a major SDK called Android that would work on most phones). However, at this point I think it would be a disservice to automatically assume they are in this for something. Sure, they got some press out of it, but they are still fronting the costs for a service which may help people.
I don’t think all corporations are evil. In fact, many companies go out of their way to be environmental friendly, or help out local charities. But if you’re pulling in a big profit every quarter, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect a company of that size to give something back to the community.
I wonder if these phone numbers would give the homeless people receiving them a sense of home, a sense of a “place” in the world that is absolutely theirs.
@Duane – I think corporate giving is almost always strategic, so I don’t agree that it does anyone a disservice in saying so. Of course organizations are going to align their strategic business objectives with their CSR objectives. It’s called strategic corporate philanthropy, and everyone is doing it. Why wouldn’t they?
The bigger question is why modern commercial enterprise is, at it’s core, unsustainable, and why corporate responsibility seems to equal shaving off a tiny sliver of profits to give to charitable organizations, regardless of what day to day business operations involve.
Why is it not a requirement to have core business operations that create social and environmental value rather than eroding it?
http://www.google.com/goog411/