I’m eligible for the US Lifeline program to get a phone number for free. I would use it on websites that require a phone number, like Discord, which doesn’t accept numbers on services like Google Voice, and replace my personal phone number with it wherever necessary. And I would start using my personal phone number only with friends and family. I would NOT be using a provided lifeline phone, but rather a sim on my iPhone.
For me it’s the main way to stay in touch with many of my friends. In an ideal world we’d all be talking on a private foss platform but it’s hard to get everyone to migrate.