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Homeless Folks Getting Reconnected Through Facebook, Twitter

by Kendra Cunningham on June 4, 2009 at 09:19 AM



Homelessness and technology may seem incongruous, but they are not as far away from each other as one might expect. Cities like San Francisco and New York are helping the homeless to become more connected, through the unlikely means of Facebook and Myspace.

Although the homeless may not have physical mailing addresses, they want to have virtual ones through free social networking sites. Featured in a profile by the Wall Street Journal, 37-year-old Charles Pitts administers Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter pages, and runs an Internet forum on Yahoo, all despite living under a bridge in San Francisco. The executive director of Central City Hospitality House in San Francisco estimates that 50-percent of the visitors to its free computer center are homeless.

This is not the first time San Francisco has tried to connect homeless folks through media. A year ago, Google, in conjunction with Project CARE, gave out free phones and service to the homeless of San Francisco in order to help them network and find jobs. Programs aiding the poor not only help get people off the streets, but could add billions to the economy.

New York City has put 42 computers into five of the city's nine municipal homeless shelters with plans for more, according to the report, and 80 additional shelters in the city offer computer access. [From: FOX/Wall Street Journal]

Tags: email, facebook, homeless, myspace, new york, NewYork, san francisco, SanFrancisco, top

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