TWIN CITIES COMMUNITY VOICE MAIL

TWIN CITIES COMMUNITY VOICE MAIL HAS

CHANGED ITS NAME TO OPEN ACCESS CONNECTIONS

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FREE COMMUNICATIONS TOOLS FOR PEOPLE IN NEED

Imagine for a moment you are filling out a job application. You’ve reached the line where the application asks for a telephone number. You don’t have a telephone because you are homeless and staying at a shelter. How can the potential employer offer you a job when she can’t even call you? Without a job, you can’t earn money to afford a place to live. You ask yourself, “How am I ever going to get back on my feet again?”

Many of us can’t imagine life without our cell phone and we take our home and office telephone service for granted. We know that we can reach our children, get a message from their school, stay in contact with our employer, and receive a message about test results from our health clinic. In a time when technology has become a stronger and stronger facet of all parts of our lives, people without phones forfeit their chances of success simply because they cannot be reached when opportunity knocks. They cannot afford even the most basic instrument of communication: a telephone.

Someone without a phone in Minnesota can benefit from a free, individual voice mail number through a highly successful program called Open Access Connections (formerly Twin Cities Community Voice Mail). Since it was launched 17 years ago, Open Access has served 60,000 low income and homeless individuals and families with this life-sustaining tool. This critical communication link connects people without phones to potential employers, landlords, health care providers, and gives domestic abuse victims a safe way of communicating. It also gives the voice mail users a way of responding to the many daily needs that require you to pick up a telephone, or a cell phone, and call for help, resources, or information. When phoneless people have a reliable means of communication, they can achieve more and do it faster.

Because of the economic downturn, people need our services more than ever to find a job and housing and to keep in touch with the support of their family and friends.

HERE IS WHAT SOME VOICE MAIL USERS SAY ABOUT OUR SERVICES:

-“I lost my job because of downsizing. I lost my place and was temporarily homeless. It is very demeaning not to have a phone. You then realize how important it is.” Frank

-"Voice mail was like a lifeline for me because I was not financially stable and was having a medical crisis. Voice mail allowed me to deal with my medical crisis and get a job because I could put a phone number on applications.” Anne

-“When you’re homeless and trying to get it together and you don’t have an address, voice mail is about the only thing you’ve got going for you.” Michael

TWIN CITIES COMMUNITY VOICE MAIL HAS RECENTLY CHANGED ITS NAME TO: OPEN ACCESS CONNECTIONS

Why did we change our name? After 17 years of providing voice mail numbers to people who are homeless and low-income, it became obvi­ous that we had outgrown the name that we picked when we started in 1994. We no longer just serve the Twin Cities area. We provide voice mail numbers across the state of Minnesota in cooperation with our greater Minnesota partner agencies. Even the “voice mail” in our name isn’t entirely accurate, either. We have kept up with the rapidly changing world of technology we all live in. We have investigated the viability of providing cell phones to users of voice mail, run two cell phone demonstration projects for selected groups of our participants, advocated for cell phones to be offered in Minnesota as part of the federal Lifeline program, and are seeking ways to provide free internet access for low-income people. The new name, Open Access Connections, more accurately reflects the sense of ownership and involvement that our participants have in the organization. For now you can donate to us on GiveMN.org as Twin Cities Community Voice Mail. Watch for an updated page on GiveMN.org.