Google is lending a hand to homeless people in San Francisco by offering free phone and voice services, the company unveiled on Thursday. The project is the result of the collaboration between Grand Central, which Google acquired last year, and Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Project Homeless Connect (PHC), Google announced in a statement.

The Project CARE initiative aims at improving the lives of individuals though offering them the possibility to stay in touch with family and friends, and most importantly, to have instant access to health care providers. San Francisco will be just the pointing start for what is intended to reach a national level as soon as possible.

The services are intended to cover city-owned shelters, as well as private ones, and is the result of a strong collaboration not only among the two mentioned above, but also of numerous organizations and agencies across the city.

“Providing phone and messaging capabilities and access to vital health care is an extraordinary step forward in the city’s commitment to a comprehensive approach to addressing the needs of this vulnerable community,” Mayor Newsom said in a statement, adding that providing the homeless persons with a house remains a top priority, but until then, this type of services will at least help improve the quality of their lives.

Google’s collaboration with PHC will certainly support homeless people in San Francisco to get back on their feet. The phone and voicemail messages will not only help them gain easy access to necessary services (health care providers, social workers), but will also open new paths for them, as they are looking for a job.

The PHC program, which was initiated in 2004 with the mission of supporting and creating solutions for homeless people in San Francisco, has already been implemented in 106 cities across U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and Australia. The CARE Project reinforces the idea that technology, which is part of our everyday lives, should also be made available to the less fortunate.