Seattle-Based Nonprofit Uses Comcast Business Services to Enhance Support Services for Women Experiencing Homelessness

By Nikki Gane-Butler, Found and Director, Dignity For Divas

There is no denying that Washington state faces an issue with people experiencing homelessness. Between 2019 and 2020 alone, Washington saw a more than 6% increase in people experiencing homelessness – the third-largest increase among all U.S. states.

Motivated by my own experience with homelessness, I started Dignity for Divas in 2012 to help other vulnerable women during a frightening and devastating time in their lives. I started the organization in my living room and embarked on the mission of our organization of reconnecting women who are experiencing homelessness with their inner diva.

Dignity For Divas believes self-care is the first step on the road to stability and self-sufficiency for women experiencing homelessness. Through their journeys, we provide essential care packages and wrap-around support to women experiencing homelessness and living in shelters and encampments.

Our organization expanded rapidly. Not long after launching, we moved from my living room to a 6,000 square-foot warehouse space. With a growing mission and more prominent space, we needed new technology solutions to support our expanded operations.

To help attract big-name corporate partners and raise awareness for our services, Dignity for Divas needed to up-level our operations and improve our community reputation. This required the right technology solutions that could support reputation development. We also had plans for future expansion and needed easy-to-use technology solutions that could scale with our business operations.

After gathering information on our options, we decided to use a VoIP phone solution from Comcast Business. This technology offered us a portfolio of hosted voice services supported by the largest voice-over-IP network in the country. Its capabilities allow for streamlined communication workflows and better call management, which has helped us stay connected to our clients and employees, driving our mission to provide skills and support to women experiencing homelessness.

This technology solution has helped us in many ways and allowed Dignity for Divas to set up separate phone lines, including one for our front desk, another for our wellness center, and a mobile line for our Diva transit bus service. Call transferring services and a web portal to manage calls also provide another service management layer for us.

Since installing the Comcast Business VoiceEdge service, Dignity for Divas’ productivity has risen by more than 40%. Our reputation in our communities has also improved as we have seen an uptick in corporate partnerships, which are particularly essential to Dignity for Divas’ educational courses.

Longer-term, my vision is to replicate my business model in Washington at a national level, and Comcast Business will help smooth the expansion process, as the scalable solution can be easily added to new office locations and turned on quickly, which will allow Dignity for Divas to start providing services right away.

Installing the Comcast Business services has given us the legitimacy of a bigger brand. We became the business we knew we could be, and as a result, the community is starting to take more notice of us. Comcast has been a true partner in guiding me along this process and has helped me so that I don’t feel alone. Between my budget and accessibility needs, they are indeed the best option. I will only work with Comcast Business now and in the future.