Google Reaches Out To San Francisco

I’m a big believer in corporate responsibility. That is, I think big corporations should reach out and do more for people in their communities, or use whatever means they have to contribute positively towards society. Surprisingly, the Vancouver technology scene is fairly active in this area, and I’ve witnessed many technology-driven events in this city geared towards feeding people in the Lower East Side, helping acquire clothing, etc.

So today, I was rather pleased to see an announcement from one of the largest technology companies around. Google has just announced that they are going to give every homeless person in San Francisco their own phone number with permanent voicemail. For those people that are trying to obtain jobs, or waiting to receive health-care, having a valid callback number where someone can reach you can be a huge deal.

I sent the article to David and asked for his take on it, and he thought it was a good idea (something hopefully he can comment on more here). I also fired off a few quick emails to people I know at Google about potentially doing something similar in Vancouver, so we’ll see.

It’s a nice gesture by a large company, and I hope it makes a difference.