Steve Albertson

Recent Activity

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  Steve signed the petition | 4 months ago

  Every Student Deserves to Attend a Great School
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  Steve signed the petition | 4 months ago

  Tell Bank of America: No $5 Debit Card Fees
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  Steve signed the petition | 9 months ago

  Tell Scholastic: Stop Pushing Corporate PR in Classrooms
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  Steve commented on the article | almost 2 years ago

  A Call for Free Voice Messaging

  Thanks for the nice post about the value of voice mail for people experiencing homelessness.  One other thing to note about Community Voice Mail (where I work): we don't just give out voice mail boxes, we have local people in all 45 cities who send regular broadcast voice messages to everyone in their area, with information about jobs, housing, healthcare, events and other local resources.   If you don't have a place to live, it's hard to get good information, especially if you're trying to find a job.  Last year, we sent more than 2,000 such messages, including some national messages in partnership with the CDC, AIDS.gov and other sources.  Our clients really like this part of our service, and they tell us it helps them. 

  
  

  We're a nonprofit, providing this service since 1993, when a social worker in Seattle started giving out voice mail numbers to clients they couldn't contact when they had job opportunities to tell them about.   It works!  See www.cvm.org for more information, and email me salbertson(at)cvm.org if you have any questions.  Thanks again for the post Change.org!

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  Steve commented on the article | almost 2 years ago

  Down for the Count: The U.S. Census Bureau's Failure to Count America's Homeless

  Thanks very much for this history.  I hadn't heard this.

  
  

  One thing:  if you're experiencing homelessness and weren't able to be counted during the three days in late-March during which the Census tried to count you at shelters, etc., you can also submit your census data *over the phone* until at least Monday, April 19 (might be available longer than this).  This is a great option for someone who doesn't have a permanent address, didn't get the form in the mail, and was missed during the homeless count.  Here's what you do:

  
  

  1.  Call the Census Telephone Questionnaire Assistance line.  Numbers are:

  
  

  ENGLISH - 1-866-872-6868
  Chinese: 1-866-935-2010
  Korean: 1-866-955-2010
  Russian: 1-866-965-2010
  Spanish: 1-866-928-2010
  Vietnamese: 1-866-945-2010
  TDD (Telephone Display Device for the hearing impaired): 1-866-783-2010

  
  

  2.  After the initial greeting and (ironically) the message about "if you'd like to submit your information over the phone...", press the 2 button, and then when you hear the next message, press the 0 button.  I've found that pushing the 2 key immediately doesn't work; you have to listen to the opening part of the message.

  
  

  3.  You'll then be connected with an operator who can take your data.  Just tell them that you want to submit your answers to him/her over the phone.  Note:  the Census requires an address, and I believe you can provide the address (shelter, friend's house, etc.) where you were staying on April 1. 

  
  

  Good luck!  We (Community Voice Mail, www.cvm.org) sent a broadcast voice message about this to thousands of low-income, homeless and "phoneless" clients using our voice mail system.  No complaints yet...

  
  

  Steve (salbertson (at) cvm.org)

  
  

   

  
  

   

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  Steve commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  H1N1 Awareness and Protection Needed for Homeless

  As we did last year, we (Community Voice Mail) are working with the CDC to send information about seasonal flu and H1N1 directly to our clients via broadcast voice and email messaging.   We're going to cover prevention, symptoms, treatment and vaccination in a series of messages to ~20k people in 45 U.S. cities.  See http://bit.ly/RRJkJ for more about what we did last year.

  
  

  As a previous commenter indicated, one of the best online resources for homeless people and agencies that serve them is http://sites.google.com/site/pandemicfluhomelessservices/.  Most of the information out there is focused on agencies and shelters that work directly with homeless people, and I have yet to find good recommendations for homeless people themselves.  I think 75% of the standard recommendations apply to everyone, but the rest need to be tweaked for people who don't have a place to separate themselves if they're sick, who don't always have a doctor to check with (other than the emergency room), who may have other chronic health conditions that add to the flu symptoms, who don't have a place to "get lots of sleep", and who may not even have access to alcohol hand gel.  We're trying to get the CDC staff engaged on this issue, and I hope there are others reading this who know of good resources that we can use!

  
  

  Steve (Community Voice Mail)

  
  

  salbertson@cvm.org

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  Steve commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  Because Living on a Prayer Alone Doesn't Pay the Bills

  Way to go, Mr. Bon Jovi.  A great lesson for "celebrities".  Based on the financials from the Philadelphia Soul Foundation, it doesn't look like they have a ton of money to put towards such a big project (and maybe there's other personal money from Bon Jovi going to this).  What it looks like he did is leverage his own fame and a little bit of his money to bring more people to the table, *and* give this project and the issue some national exposure that it likely wouldn't have received had he not been involved.  Seems like a lot of famous people don't do this nearly as well, especially on a fundamental thing as housing.

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  Steve commented on the article | almost 3 years ago

  Don't be Homeless, Get a Job!

  Agreed, this is a good post.  The phone issue is definitely a big one. I work for Community Voice Mail (www.cvm.org), a nonprofit that has been providing free voice mail boxes to "phoneless" people for 15 years.  We provide 40,000 people a year with a phone number and voice mail, and we know from client surveys that most homeless/low-income people who are affiliated with a social service agency return to that agency to use the phone (at least to check their CVM voice mail).  71% of our clients told us this.  19% indicated they use a payphone when they have to make a call, and 10% use a mobile phone. 
  
  According to calculations we did using Census and FCC data, as of 2006, approximately 3.2 million households in the U.S. with annual income less than $9,999 do not have a phone.  And I believe that "household" designation does not include those who are homeless. 
  
  Even in this digital age, there are not many employers who will contact you exclusively via email.  They want a phone number when they want to talk with you.
  

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  Steve commented on the article | almost 3 years ago

  Michelle Obama Serves Soup, Nation Misses the Point

  Hi.  I work for a national nonprofit called Community Voice Mail (www.cvm.org), and we provide free voice mail boxes to 40,000 homeless and low-income people a year in 47 U.S. cities, and have been for about 15 years.  We know a lot about the telecommunication needs of the homeless, including cell phones.  Here are some thoughts based on the postings above:
  
  1.  A phone number, if not an actual phone, is still critical for anyone seeking employment or housing, and for staying in touch with case managers, healthcare professionals, and others who are trying to help.  It's not a luxury, but a necessity if you're trying to improve your life and get out of a state of crisis or transition.
  
  2.  Homeless and very low-income people are still consumers, and whilte they may have very little discretionary income, like other consumers, they make decisions about what to spend their money on and tend to spend it on the things that are most important to them (again, assuming they're actively trying to improve their lives).  As many have indicated, a prepaid mobile phone can cost only $20 for more than 200 minutes of use, and most carriers sell phones for $10 (fairly easy to get for free as well).  For many homeless people, this is an expense within reach, and a no-brainer in terms of importance.
  
  3.  We've asked our clients where they access a phone to check their CVM voice mail and make calls, and 71% tell us they use the free phones often available to clients at social service agencies.  19% use payphones, and 10% use their own cell phone.  We've also found that 21% of our clients have mobile phones.  The average monthly income for our clients is about $525 (and nearly half report no income at all).
  
  4.  SafeLink Wireless (www.safelinkwireless.com) is the first program that provides free mobile phones/minutes to qualifying low-income people using funds collected through the Universal Service Fund (USF).  If you look at your phone bill, and you've made any long-distance calls, you'll see a line item for your contribution to the USF.  USF funds have been used for decades to provide low-income people with discounted access to landline services, with the thinking being that telecommunications access is critical for people rising up out of poverty.  The SafeLink service is (or will be) available in 10 states plus D.C..  We've looked at it closely, and it's a great deal if you qualify and plan to use no more than the 68 minutes/month that are provided for free.  If you use any more minutes than this, you have to buy them through TracFone (the carrier behind SafeLink), and the resulting per-minute cost is actually higher than you could buy from Virgin Mobile or Net10 (and probably other prepaid services).  You can see our full analysis at http://communityvoicemail.blogspot.com/2009/01/safelink-wireless-when-free-isnt-great.html.
  
  Very glad to see a lively discussion about the telecommunication needs of homeless people! 
  
  Steve
  salbertson@cvm.org