How We're Helping Our Communities During COVID-19

With offices in San Francisco, Seattle, and Waterloo, we’ve seen firsthand the unimaginable impact of the rapid spread of COVID-19. With so many in our communities hurting, we are doing what we can to help as many people as possible — even if it’s just relieving a little bit of financial stress through our free phone service.

That’s why we’re proud to announce partnerships with two incredible organizations in our communities.

Larkin Street Youth Services is a non-profit in San Francisco that empowers young people to move beyond homelessness. They help young people take charge of their lives — and we’re thrilled to play a small part in that. We’ve sent this great organization free smartphones for their members with our Free Nationwide Talk & Text plan. We hope this will help them stay connected with loved ones, keep in contact with teachers, and maintain or apply for jobs.

“For me, these donations were so appreciated because they help us stay connected with our most vulnerable students during a hugely disconnected time. Shelter-in-place has highlighted for many people the inequality that has always been present in our society, and unfortunately increased it as well. There are millions of people in the San Francisco area who take having a cell phone for granted, but for our clients it can be difficult to keep a phone on consistently. This donation couldn’t have come at a better time, since it’s allowed us to make sure that we can stay connected to students who are working hard to complete their GED or find employment.” — Natalie Porter, Manager of Education, Learning Centers at Larkin Street Academy

House of Friendship is a non-profit organization in Waterloo Region that provides food, housing, addiction treatment and neighbourhood support to individuals and families. When the coronavirus crisis began closing down many services, they found some of their members had no way to stay connected. So, for the first time ever, we’re providing our free Talk & Text plan in Canada. We’ve provided them with smartphones connected to our cellular plan so they can stay connected even if they don’t have access to Wi-Fi.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to change the way we serve our community members, as we can no longer conduct in-person meetings with counsellors. Many of the people who rely on our services can’t access basic phone plans, so the free service provided by TextNow is truly a life line in keeping our most vulnerable connected to the ongoing support they need during these difficult times.” — Tara Groves-Taylor, Addictions Services Director, House of Friendship

We also know that many more people will need to make difficult financial decisions in the coming days, weeks, and months. We want you to know that if you can no longer afford your phone service, we’re here to help.

Our mission has always been to provide excellent phone service for free, or as close to free as possible, and we want to make sure that everyone has access to communication through this difficult time.