For the past week, the East County Chamber of Commerce has been giving out wristbands to local homeless shelters and first responders. Their goal is to better connect homeless people to services and resources.
"So that they can have them right on their wrist and quickly remind themselves what number to text to," said Eric Lund, the CEO and president of the East County Chamber of Commerce.
People can text "ConnectEC" to 77453, which then gives them options for help covering basic needs such as health and shelter. The idea is to refer them to local resources, like the Crisis House in El Cajon.
"I’m already signed up in there (the Crisis House)," Jose Cruz said. Cruz said he has been homeless in San Diego County the last five years.
"I get my hot meals there, I get my mail there," he said.
Cruz thinks the wristbands could help.
"If they want the services, they want the help," he said. "And all they have to do is do that, text someone. I’d do it."
The East County Chamber of Commerce said they worked with people who are homeless to develop the new information system.
“Not everybody out there on the streets has smartphones," Lund said. "If you don’t have a smartphone it’s kind of hard to navigate a website. So we think that by having a text-based app it’s going to open it up for a lot of other people.”
The East County Chamber of Commerce said 2,500 bracelets were made with financial support from the city of El Cajon.
