Homeless Get Access to Voice Mail System

Pacific Bell has installed its Voice Mail telephone answering service at the Weingart Center to assist homeless people.

The telephone company this month installed 65 voice mailboxes at the nonprofit social service agency as a donation. The company already had provided the center at 566 S. San Pedro St. with free telephone lines for its homeless and needy clients.

Voice Mail, a popular service in the business world, can store up to 30 telephone messages. Callers hear a recorded greeting in the individual’s own voice and can then leave a message.

The privacy aspect of the system is the key benefit for homeless people looking for a job or a home, Weingart officials said.

“Privacy is very important from the point of view of self-esteem,” said Gerald F. Vadnais, executive vice president of the Weingart Center. “The potential employer has no idea if the person lives at the Weingart Center or . . . in Beverly Hills.”

Some homeless people said employers often drop them from consideration after learning they are homeless. “It removes the stigma from guys like us and gives us a competitive edge,” said Michael Russell, a Weingart resident recently hired to work part time as a teacher’s aide at the Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center in Watts.

For Rocky Romero, the greatest advantage of Voice Mail is that he will never miss a call from his 10-year-old son, who lives in the San Gabriel Valley. “No matter where I am, he can call and leave a message,” Romero said. “That’s very important to him, and to me, also.”

Pacific Bell has also installed Voice Mail at the Salvation Army Gateway Center in San Francisco. Spokeswoman Linda Bonniksen said the utility company hopes the Voice Mail project will encourage others to donate money to provide the service at other sites.