Lucy’s Hearth Upgrades Phone System
Lucy’s Hearth, a homeless shelter for women and their children, recently upgraded its on-line abilities with a new website and by plunging deeper into social media.
Now, thanks to a $2,950 grant from Ocean State Charities Trust, it’s improving its phone system.
“In this age of email, websites and social media, our phones still remain integral to our daily operations,” said Jennifer Barrera, Lucy’s Hearth’s program director. “We often receive more than 150 calls a day from families requesting shelter, program participants requesting assistance, volunteers and donors.”
Callers, she said, too often would get busy signals, as Lucy’s staff not only was tied up answering incoming calls, but also making calls researching housing opportunities, making medical appointments and the like for residents.
Thanks to the Ocean State Charities Trust grant, Lucy’s Hearth has upgraded its phone system to lessen busy signals by helping callers navigate to individual staff voice mail if the system is overwhelmed.
“We prefer having a person answering the phone, but that’s not always possible,” she said, noting Lucy’s Hearth has a small staff.
So, visit Lucy’s Hearth’s website, www.lucyshearth.org, and follow it on Facebook and Twitter. “But, if you’re a woman needing shelter, now more than ever, you can call us at 847-2021 and, thanks to the grant, will be better able to serve you,” she said.
Lucy’s Hearth, located in Middletown, Rhode Island, serves homeless mothers and their children through an emergency shelter program, a transitional apartment program, a permanent apartment program and an outreach and aftercare program.
