GrandCentral's Project CARE Delivers 6,000 Voicemails to San Francisco Homeless as it Expands Bay Area Network
SAN FRANCISCO Aug. 10, 2006 - GrandCentral, an emerging personal communications company, today announced the addition of nine new partners to its Project CARE (Communications And Respect for Everybody) initiative. Project CARE offers those in need a permanent local phone number and voice mailbox, free of charge. Partnering with Project CARE as part of its Bay Area program are the Employment Development Department, St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County, St. Vincent de Paul of San Francisco, San Francisco Human Services, San Francisco Homeless Outreach Team, San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Shelter Network, Tenderloin AIDS Resource Center and Tom Waddell Health Center. GrandCentral also participated in today's Project Homeless Connect 12 event in San Francisco, marking the third event the company has attended this year.
"There is a great necessity in the Bay Area for a service like Project CARE," said Robert Vernon, a caseworker at Shelter Network, the Peninsula's largest provider of transitional housing. "I see families come to our shelter who are so desperate to stay connected that they spend what little money they have on a cell phone rather than a place to live. Project CARE is a fantastic program, one that will help our clients get back on their feet and on a path to self-sufficiency. Now these same families can put the money they save toward housing and other immediate needs."
GrandCentral launched Project CARE in April 2006. To date, the company has signed up 588 homeless clients with free local phone numbers and voice mailboxes. In this time, more than 6,000 voicemails have been received by those who previously had no means of communication. In June 2006, Pac-West Telecomm partnered with GrandCentral and has been instrumental in allowing GrandCentral to expand the Project CARE initiative to an even wider group of agencies in the Bay Area and beyond.
"At GrandCentral, we have a firm belief that everyone needs to be connected - to family, friends, medical service providers and potential employers. Without a reliable phone number, you lose that connection," said Craig Walker, CEO of GrandCentral Communications. "We also believe that private, for-profit companies have a social obligation to improve the communities in which they operate. Our Project CARE initiative is a great example of how emerging technologies can be deployed to help improve the lives of those most in need. We are thrilled to have 18 partners on board, helping us weave San Francisco's homeless and displaced citizens back into everyday life."
GrandCentral will continue to develop the Project CARE pilot program in the San Francisco Bay Area through 2006 and plans to extend the program nationally.
"There is a great necessity in the Bay Area for a service like Project CARE," said Robert Vernon, a caseworker at Shelter Network, the Peninsula's largest provider of transitional housing. "I see families come to our shelter who are so desperate to stay connected that they spend what little money they have on a cell phone rather than a place to live. Project CARE is a fantastic program, one that will help our clients get back on their feet and on a path to self-sufficiency. Now these same families can put the money they save toward housing and other immediate needs."
GrandCentral launched Project CARE in April 2006. To date, the company has signed up 588 homeless clients with free local phone numbers and voice mailboxes. In this time, more than 6,000 voicemails have been received by those who previously had no means of communication. In June 2006, Pac-West Telecomm partnered with GrandCentral and has been instrumental in allowing GrandCentral to expand the Project CARE initiative to an even wider group of agencies in the Bay Area and beyond.
"At GrandCentral, we have a firm belief that everyone needs to be connected - to family, friends, medical service providers and potential employers. Without a reliable phone number, you lose that connection," said Craig Walker, CEO of GrandCentral Communications. "We also believe that private, for-profit companies have a social obligation to improve the communities in which they operate. Our Project CARE initiative is a great example of how emerging technologies can be deployed to help improve the lives of those most in need. We are thrilled to have 18 partners on board, helping us weave San Francisco's homeless and displaced citizens back into everyday life."
GrandCentral will continue to develop the Project CARE pilot program in the San Francisco Bay Area through 2006 and plans to extend the program nationally.
About GrandCentral
GrandCentral Communications is a next-generation personal communications company that gives consumers unprecedented control over their phone calls by integrating all existing phones and voicemail boxes into one through the GrandCentral number. GrandCentral has developed the most comprehensive feature set available in the market today and works seamlessly across all existing telephone networks, systems and devices. The company is privately held and based in Fremont, CA. For more information on GrandCentral, or to sign up for a free account, go to www.grandcentral.com.
GrandCentral Communications is a next-generation personal communications company that gives consumers unprecedented control over their phone calls by integrating all existing phones and voicemail boxes into one through the GrandCentral number. GrandCentral has developed the most comprehensive feature set available in the market today and works seamlessly across all existing telephone networks, systems and devices. The company is privately held and based in Fremont, CA. For more information on GrandCentral, or to sign up for a free account, go to www.grandcentral.com.
