In one of my favorite episodes of Sports Night, Robert Guillaume’s character said that he didn’t worry that money he gave to the a panhandler would be spent on beer. In fact he hoped it would be spent on beer because he didn’t have any illusions about his dollar changing that person’s life. That attitude strikes me now as blind to half the problem. What can be done to change the life for about the same amount of money.

A few months ago I heard about a program that gives free voice mail to the homeless to help them find jobs. Fifteen years ago Community Voice Mail started in Seattle realized that one of the greatest barriers to lifting yourself off the streets is the difficultly in getting a job. When a potential employer can’t get in touch with the applicant, her chances of getting the job disappear. The same holds for when she reveals her homeless. An employer’s discrimination against homelessness may be based on a firmer foundation than gender and racial discrimination. I especially like how the strategy helps obscure the person’s negative characteristics.

The program works by giving people stable phone numbers until they find jobs. They receive cards with a password for them to a dial in and record a personalized voice mail greeting.The person can check their messages from any touchtone phone. After they successfully find work the phone number is transferred to someone new. Community Voice Mail not only target the homeless but also domestic violence victims, runaway youth, family choosing between heat and phone, foster children displaced at 18th birthday and migrant workers.

The program successfully helped 44,000 people last year and stretches across 37 cities nationwide, with plans to expand to 65 cities in the next five years. In 2005 it was named Outstanding Philanthropic Organization of the Year and was (is?) a finalist for the Amazon.com Innovation Award. Major supporters include Cisco Systems, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.