10317 Lorain Ave Cleveland, Ohio 44111

216/635-2486 FAX: 216 635 2489 clevelandCVM@neoch.org

Press Release

For More Information, Call: Mike Gibbs from Cleveland Community Voice Mail at (216)635-2486.

10317 Lorain Ave.

Cleveland, Ohio 44111

Cleveland CVM Awarded Accolades and Adjusts to New Surroundings

The CVM Federation awarded the 2005 Community Voice Mail Golden Phone award to the Cleveland Community Voice Mail program. Cleveland Community Voice Mail was chosen as the top CVM program from a total of 37 sites. This award is presented to a CVM program that has made an exemplary contribution to both its community and to the CVM Federation. Cleveland CVM has done just that for the past five years since it started in January of 2000 at the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. On any given day, Cleveland CVM services 2,400 clients who have found this program through community agencies, schools, government agencies, re-entry programs, and labor organizing agencies. Over the last five years, CVM has served the voice mail needs of 16,500 people.

One such advance Cleveland Community Voice Mail has achieved is earning sponsorship from Ohio.net. The Doylestown, OH, company is community minded and provides local and regional telephone services. Ohio.net installed a new Cisco Unity server and will now pay 1/3 of the cost to run the Voice Mail program. Ohio.net considers each and every customer important to its existence, and this has been proven by their endorsement of a free voice mail program for low-income people and families. Program Director, Mike Gibbs, said, “With the help of Ohio.net, we look forward to expanding the project statewide.”

The Cleveland Community Voice Mail department of NEOCH has moved to a new building on Lorain Ave. The new office at 10317 Lorain in Cleveland is equipped with up-to-date technology to better serve the communication needs of the low-income families of Cleveland and its surrounding areas. The new office is more spacious and comfortable than the office at their old address on South Point Drive. The new voice mail system will provide a better service to the Greater Cleveland Community.

About Community VoiceMail

The Cleveland Community VoiceMail is part of the CVM national network of sites, empowering people in crisis and transition by distributing free 24-hour voice mail service nationwide, directly linking individuals to jobs, housing, safety, and stability. The Cleveland Community VoiceMail program has helped thousands of people in the Cleveland community to get jobs and housing since it started in 2000. In 2004, VoiceMail served 5,210 clients.

About NEOCH

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) is a nonprofit organization located in downtown Cleveland dedicated to organizing and empowering at risk men, women, and children to break the cycle of poverty through public education, advocacy, and the creation of nurturing environments. NEOCH sponsors a number of different programs, including Homeless Legal assistance, a street newspaper promoted by homeless persons called Homeless Grapevine, a free 24-hour Community VoiceMail service, and a program called Bridging the Gap that tries to connect low-income families to affordable housing. NEOCH was started in 1988 by Lisa Thomas, Sr. Mary Frances Harrington, and Catherine Lowe. The current Executive Director is Brian Davis.