Giving Compass' Take:

• Pacific Standard reports on the ways smartphone devices can help homeless people find resources, health care, and community.

• How can we make smartphones more accessible to the homeless? What other programs are there aiming to help homeless people find the proper resources?

• Here's an article on everything you need to know about homelessness and how to help. 

On a sweltering day several months ago, 35-year-old Terry Phillips got his first cell phone. He was sitting on the side of a freeway off-ramp in Sacramento with a cardboard sign, when a car pulled up and the driver held a brown paper bag out the window. Despite his stiff knees and unrelenting cough, Terry stood to receive the bag. Inside, he found several granola bars, a bottle of water, and—to his surprise—an old iPhone and a charger inside.

Having known Terry—a longtime resident of my hometown—for years, I knew he was no stranger to charitable goods and services, but I had no idea how profoundly that paper bag would change his life. He charged the phone using outlets in cafes and on the street, and within a few days he was sending and receiving calls and texts, setting alarms, taking photos, and even accessing the Internet.

Read the full article on how smartphones are helping the homeless by Tony Hackett at Pacific Standard.