National 2-1-1 Day

On February 11th, United Way celebrated National 2-1-1 Day! 2-1-1 is a nationwide program that connects people with critical health and human services within their local communities.

Every day, 2-1-1 directs callers to agencies and programs that can help. In 2009, the Greater New Orleans 2-1-1, with service provider VIA Link, handled over 77,000 service request calls.

Across the entire state, Louisiana 2-1-1 answered over 237,000 calls – over 650 calls a day! The 2009 nationwide count of calls to 2-1-1 service providers across the United States shows that over 16 million calls were answered across America --- an increase of 13% in call volume over 2008 statistics.

“2-1-1” was designated by the Federal Communications Commission in 2000 as the national 3-digit telephone dialing code for health, and human community services. 2-1-1 is an easy to remember phone number that connects individuals with resources in their community.

With approximately 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the United States plus scores of government agencies, finding help can be confusing and intimidating. People who want to get help often do not know where to begin. Due to today’s economy, there are many people in need of assistance just to make ends meet, who have never asked for help before.

2-1-1 centers are staffed by trained specialists who quickly assess the callers’ needs and refer them to the help they seek. It’s simple to remember, accessible to everyone at no cost, available 24/7, with multilingual capabilities. 2-1-1 offers information on a broad range of services, including rent assistance, food banks, affordable housing, health resources, child care, after-school programs, elderly care, financial literacy, job training programs and legal services.

The bulk of the calls at 2-1-1 continue to be assistance needed to help pay for utilities, rent and mortgage. More and more people call because they don’t have enough food to feed their families. They can no longer afford to pay for health care and don’t know where to go or what to do when they need to see a doctor. Many can no longer afford prescriptions. Others need help to find affordable housing or to locate a job.

For more information on 2-1-1 in the Greater New Orleans Area, visit http://www.unitedwaynola.org/safetynet/211