How HomewardText works
You text from your phone. We get your words to them. Their replies come back to you as texts. Here is each step.
Step 1 of 4
Sign up on this site
Tell us your name, your mobile number, and who you want to reach. You'll need their name, the facility they're in, and their ID number if you have it.
We text you once to confirm. Reply YES and you're set. Nothing else comes until you do.
Step 2 of 4
Give us permission to send for you
You keep your own account on the messaging system their facility uses. If you don't have one yet, we help you set it up. Then you sign a short form that gives us written permission to send messages through it.
We walk you through it, one step at a time. Some systems ask the person inside to add you as a contact. We'll tell you if theirs does.
Step 3 of 4
Text your HomewardText number
Write to them the way you'd text anyone. We send your words into the messaging system their facility uses, exactly as you wrote them. We don't edit or rewrite them.
Facility rules still apply. Staff at the facility may read messages, and they decide what gets through.
Step 4 of 4
Get their replies as texts
When they write back, their reply comes to your phone as a text from your HomewardText number. Reply to keep the conversation going.
Want more than words? Ask for a photo print, a greeting card or an article. See plans and prices on our pricing page.
What you need to start
- A mobile phone that can send and get texts. It must be your own number.
- Their full name and the name of the facility they're in.
- Their ID number, if you have it. We can help you find it.
- A card or digital wallet for after your free trial.
- You must be 18 or older.
Questions along the way? Our automated assistant, Homeward Helper, answers by text any time and always says it's automated. Text PERSON to your Homeward Helper number to reach a person.
What we don't do
- We don't pass messages between two people who are both inside.
- We don't look people up or search records.
- We don't handle anything about money requests.
- We don't send messages to or about other residents.
- We don't offer sports picks.
- We don't sign up a number for someone else. Only the person who owns a number can sign it up.
If their facility blocks outside messages
Some facilities don't allow outside services. If theirs blocks messages, here is what happens:
- We pause your service.
- You aren't charged for the pause.
- We text you when it's back.