Voice Mail Empowers Homeless with Cisco Support

The Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy recently made several awards to honor innovative corporate funders and the nonprofits with which they work. One winner was a unique nonprofit, nominated by Cisco Systems, that provides free, personalized telecommunications access to poor and homeless people, empowering these individuals by providing reliable and confidential communication access for prospective employers, landlords, medical providers,

According to CECP, "Community Voice Mail (CVM) has a measurable impact on a person's ability to emerge from a sometimes desperate situation, providing the critical link to accessing basic human services. After using CVM for an average of seven months, nearly 70% of clients achieve at least one of their goals of finding a job, housing, or healthcare.

This small organization successfully serves 41,000 clients by skillfully leveraging Cisco Systems' financial support and technological capabilities and by partnering with community-based organizations in over 40 cities nationally. In 2003, the Cisco Foundation awarded CVM a $2.5 million grant over five years to help enhance their service capabilities, centralize their voicemail system, and reduce operational costs. Replacing site-based voicemail servers with a scalable, centralized system, and utilizing the expertise of Cisco volunteers, CVM has streamlined costs and now impacts a
much larger client base.

A great idea coupled with solid execution as well as Cisco's technology, money and clout -- award-winning, indeed.

Susan Herr