Welcome to the July Enewsletter of Community Voice Mail!
In this issue:

• Partner Spotlight: Providing much more than food, our Dallas CVM host agency, The Stewpot, fulfills its motto of “Serving up second chances”. Read about Dallas CVM’s latest innovation—using CVM as a Help Wanted lifeline.

• Measuring Meaning: CVM is available to more than 40,000 people living in 420 municipalities via a network of 2,072 human services. Who are our users and what impact does CVM have on their lives? Check out some data …

• CVM Comes to San Antonio, Texas: Our newest CVM site will launch July 12, 2007 and we are pleased to partner with the Catholic Charities once again...Read More

Almost every day Larry Sykes, a high-energy entrepreneur who retired from
32 years in commercial real estate to start CVM services in Dallas, sends a message to every one of the CVM users with just one phone call.
His focus is on job leads, which he frames with inspirational quotes:
"They can pick that job lead up everyday and act on it that day. We also leave inspirational messages for our clients. The response to both the jobs leads and the inspirational messages has been very positive, exemplified by the message from a Dallas CVM user below:"

"As a person on the "street" without a true residence or a steady job it is difficult to reconnect to a normal life...I got the news that my older sister in Colorado was sick -late. I learned my daughter had given birth to her first child-late and I was late in learning about a call for a job interview. I now have Community Voice Mail and I hope to get the news on-time and then make a timely response "

By using CVM to broadcast the availability of jobs listed by welfare-to-work agencies, everyone benefits: it increases the chance that clients will get timely information, act on it, and increase their chances of securing a job. It also extends and improves the service quality offered by government agencies such as Workforce, WorkSource, and Vocational Rehabilitation.

Dallas CVM serves more than 550 clients on any given day and 435 have found jobs or housing in the first 32 months of operation. Larry aims to increase that success via use of broadcast messaging. His pilot is expected to be emulated by other CVM sites nationwide.

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Measuring Meaning: The scope of disconnection

8 million - Number of American households with no phone, according to the FCC

750,000– Number of Americans who experienced homelessness in 2006, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness

120 – Number of requests for help that CVM National has received since Jan, 2007

8% - Percentage of American youth who experience homelessness each year

The scope of the CVM network…

420 - Number of municipalities that use Community Voice Mail. Click here for a list of the 39 CVM sites serving these communities.

2,108 - Number of social service agencies, homeless advocacy groups, clinics, schools and housing authorities that distribute CVM to people in crisis.

41,078 - Number of people who used CVM last year to connect to jobs, housing, loved ones, opportunities and support

The profile of those 41,078 people…

54% - Percentage who reported at intake that they were unemployed

52% - Percentage who reported at intake that they were homeless

$448.81 - average monthly income

A sample of CVM’s impact…Of those who reported exit data…

44% reported getting jobs

44% reported securing housing

51% reported receiving healthcare

75% reported achieving safe communication re: domestic violence

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