How, if I may ask, do you give away something for free that’s already free? But that’s what Google’s GrandCentral Communications team is doing with Project CARE. (Communications And Respect for Everybody)

The initiative is designed to help San Francisco’s homeless get back on their feet–by giving them a free GrandCentral voicemail number employers can reach them on. They’ll also be able to keep in contact with local medical clinics.

TechCrunch had claimed the announcement was just a re-hash of the statement made two years ago: “We believe that everybody has the right to be connected. The city of San Francisco has done a terrific job in supporting our homeless. With GrandCentral, we help complete the loop by ensuring people are able to connect with family, friends, potential and current employers, housing personnel and medical providers.”

Then along came GrandCentral CEO and co-founder Craig Walker with a clarification: “The point of the announcement yesterday was not to restate the goals of Project CARE but to announce that we are taking Project CARE beyond …and are now developing a self-service portal for agencies to be able to create these accounts directly for the homeless people they serve on a daily basis.”

GrandCenral is working directly with the Mayor’s Homeless Policy Director, Dariush Kayhan, to help develop that portal to fully fill the needs of the service agencies. Now that Google is behind Project CARE, they announced they would have the resources to extend this service to homeless individuals nationwide. GrandCentral recently expanded its Project Care service to Oakland, San Diego and Baltimore and is expanding nationally.

One formerly homeless man said the right message can raise the spirit: “Having your family, friends and loved ones being able to say ‘here I’m thinking about you, I love you, I want you to know you’re mine, and I miss you,’ can have a monumental change in one’s behaviour.”

Hip-hip-Hurray to Google for helping the homeless by sharing a ‘Free’ service: a free phone Number –but not a phone. Messages can be accessed from any phone, but you still have to put money in a payphone to make the call. There’s something kind of sad about the state of our society when you see this statement. Why would we let a family member live on the street, but then call their voicemail to say, “I love you?” If you love them, let them sleep on the couch!


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