Seattle, Washington, August 22, 2005 According to a government study, 12 million adult residents of the U.S have been homeless at some point in their lives. The dedicated staff of Community Voice Mail, the grassroots charity that quietly operates in 37 U.S. cities and 19 states, will tell you the phrase "hope is just a phone call away" is far from a cliché. For the millions of homeless people in America, having their own phone number with voicemail can literally make the difference between life and death.

That's why winning Amazon.com's million dollar Nonprofit Innovation Award is so important to Community Voice Mail (www.cvm.org ), which was started in 1991 by two Seattle employment counselors. Chosen from nearly 1000 other charity applicants by panelists such as Henry Kissinger and Muhammad Ali, Community Voice Mail has been called, "the chugging little long shot that could." The contest winner will be the charity that collects the most monies by September 30, 2005. Go to www.cvm.org for the 1-click donation link.

"Homelessness is still so misunderstood," says Patricia Bonnell, CVM's Director of Development. "It can happen to anybody at any time, for any number of reasons: a natural disaster, job loss, medical crisis, domestic strife, just to name a few. Without a phone, the cycle of lack and despair just perpetuates itself. How do you get a job or a place to live if you can't put down a phone number on an application? How can a doctor or your family follow up if there is no way to contact you?" says Bonnell.

To combat the stereotypes associated with homelessness and raise awareness for the urgency behind the charity's low-tech high-impact premise, Community Voice Mail has released an animated online Public Service Announcement. http://www.cvm.org/video_home_new8_16.htm or www.cvm.org has the clip. Community Voice Mail hopes their "perception versus reality" story and cartoon spokesperson, based on a real-life client, will encourage people to log in, make donations and pass on the message to family, friends and colleagues.

Cities served by Community Voice Mail include: New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Atlanta, Orlando, Memphis, Raleigh, Richmond, Aiken, Denver, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland, Seattle, Spokane and many others.

Contact:

Karma Martell             Patricia Bonnell
KarmaCom Inc.           Community Voice Mail
718-488-7810              206-441-7872 x 150
cvm@karmacom.com  pbonnell@cvm.org

Community Voice Mail

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