Homeless people in the Bay Area are being handed free smartphones by multi-billion dollar tech companies in the hope that it will get them off the streets. A group called Community Technology Alliance is giving away free Google handsets which come loaded with apps that help the homeless find shelters, soup kitchens, and warn of severe weather. The phones are also designed to help people apply for jobs and find housing, as companies often require people to visit their websites. Holly Leonard (left), who was homeless and had spent time in prison, now has a house after finding an advert on Craigslist using a Google phone she was given to allow her to get online . Holly Leonard, a homeless woman from San Francisco who has spent time in jail and in a women's refuge, has used her free handset to find herself a new home in San Jose, with her husband. She found the advert on Craigslist using a Nexus 5 phone she was given by the Community Technology Alliance. She told the New York Times: 'People don’t put out "for rent" signs anymore, so the Internet is the best way. 'You can’t even go get a paper application for a lot of things. You can’t get a job unless you get online. Before I got a free phone, it was like you’re almost nonexistent.' The Bay Area have one of the most acute homelessness problems in the U.S., with approximately destitute 14,000 people living in San Francisco and San Jose alone. While tech companies are keen to promote their image as compassionate businesses, tensions have boiled up over accusations they are not doing enough to help those in their own backyard. The Bay Area have one of the most acute homelessness problems in the U.S., with approximately destitute 14,000 people living in San Francisco and San Jose alone. Pictured: The Silicon Valley shantytown . While tech companies are keen to promote their image as compassionate businesses, tensions have boiled up over accusations they are not doing enough to help those in their own backyard (pictured) Thanks almost entirely to the tech firms, the average person in Silicon Valley earned $116,033 last year, compared to $69,000 nationally, highlighting an ever-widening gap between rich and poor. But the phone initiative attempts to give something back, with workers from Twitter, mobile games company Zynga, and business-based social network Yammer. helping to teach people how to make the most of internet access. Sam Dodge, a government worker who focuses on homelessness, added: 'Homeless people live in the year 2015, too, and people need cellphones.' Thanks almost entirely to the tech firms, the average person in Silicon Valley earned $116,033 last year, compared to $69,000 nationally, highlighting an ever-widening gap between rich and poor . The phones are also used to help homeless people get in touch with their relatives, who they have often become estranged from, and may be able to help in getting their lives back on track. Users are provided with plugs for the phones, which they can use to recharge the batteries at coffee shops or in libraries for free. They are charged between $30 and $40 per month for internet, phone and call access, which is usually funded through voluntary schemes for which they are paid a stipend. The conditions in the squalid Silicon Valley shantytown, home to 300 people, in the shadows of one of the wealthiest areas of the U.S . A shirt with a morale-boosting message is placed atop mud and debris at the Silicon Valley homeless encampment . The plan includes other features to make it easier for homeless people, such as the ability to keep their number if they cannot pay the bills, and a two month grace period in case the miss a payment. The Community Technology Alliance works with other charities to find homeless people in need of a phone, and who would benefit the most from having one. So far they have given out 100 of the 1,000 handsets they have been given, and promised another 350 to other organisations. A spokesman for Mobile4all said: 'We provide a unique and empowering technological service to those struggling every day to escape poverty and homelessness. 'We are thinking big to address big issues with big solutions for those who need it most.'
Community Technology Alliance has given 100 free phones to homeless .
Helps to find shelter, locate soup kitchens and reconnect with families .
Also allows them to find homes and jobs in world reliant on the internet .
Homeless woman Holly Leonard used a free Google phone to rent a flat .