A new emergency broadcast system for the homeless has been unveiled by a Dallas non-profit.
NBC 5 reports the faith-based organization OurCalling has released a smartphone app, in collaboration with about 40 agencies, including shelters and Dallas police, to bus homeless people to warm beds they know are available.
"We've been collecting their Facebook profiles, gmail accounts, email addresses and cell phone numbers so we can send a message in an emergency like this," said Wayne Walker, OurCalling's pastor and executive director.
"[The app] allows us to track real time bed availability at all the shelters and so we'll know where people are, where there are empty beds and how to get them there as quickly as possible," he said.
"Every service provider is working in unison with each other and apps like this and nights like [on Saturday] draw us closer together," when temperatures drop to dangerously freezing levels, said Patrick Palmer, OurCalling's director of development.
"We've been told it's pretty groundbreaking, but for us it's using basic technology to reach a different community," Walker said.
The app is free to download. In addition to shelter, OurCalling provides quick access to food resources, help with domestic violence and medical care.
