2-1-1 helps Sonoma County residents help themselves

It’s not a new service; it’s just been made simpler with a
three-digit phone number.
The Human Services Volunteer Information and Referral Program
has been around since the early ’80s, but in February 2009 launched
2-1-1, a free, easy to remember phone number that connects local
residents in need with health and human services 24-hours a day,
seven days a week.
Services include basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter,
childcare, physical and mental health resources, employment,
support for seniors and persons with disabilities, assistance for
immigrants and more, states information about the referral
program.
“Because of 2-1-1 our phone call volume increased by 50 percent
during our first year of operation,” Program Director Bill Myatt
said. “It’s a non-emergency partner of 911,” he said. “We help
people who need help, but who are not in a life-threatening
situation,” he said, noting, 2-1-1 is a referral center, or an
information provider, not a service provider. “Our mission
statement is, ‘We help people help themselves,’” Myatt said.
The most common 2-1-1 calls have to do with housing, or need of
it, according to Myatt. For example, someone will call saying they
need a place to live, or that they are going to lose their house.
The second most popular calls come from someone seeking health
care, with mental health services – such as counseling and drug
abuse programs – being the biggest request, followed by physical
health.
Last year, aside from housing, the most common calls were in
regards to finding food.
“United Way has found that without 2-1-1, people who need help
find that help on their ninth phone call, and that is an average.
So it begs to question how many people give up. I personally
wouldn’t make nine phone calls; I’d give up in frustration. With
2-1-1 it’s two phone calls, first to 2-1-1 and then we get you to
the right place,” Myatt said.
The 2-1-1 website (2-1-1wc.org) gets even more traffic. “People
don’t want to tell a stranger I am an addict; they don’t want to
tell a stranger I have prostrate problem. They want to get online
and find out where the help is,” he said. However, people will call
with one specific request and what they really have are many
different needs, he said. “That is what my call specialists are
good at. They call ’cause they don’t have food and the reason they
don’t have food is ’cause they don’t have a job. So we are trying
to get to the root cause, and we will typically make many referrals
in response to a single call asking for one service,” he said,
noting that is the advantage to a phone call versus the website
where someone is on their own.
“It’s a great service, I am proud to be part of it,” Myatt
said.
In 2009 – between local calls, San Bernardino calls (weekends
and holidays local calls go to San Bernardino, but staff are
looking at the local database) and walk-ins to the Human Services
building – call specialists with the 2-1-1 program talked to 13,653
people, according to Myatt. “By talking to them we helped 31,601
people,” he said, noting for example if a mother with two children
calls for food, the resources are really helping three people, not
just her.
“We are on track this year to have over 14,000 individuals
served, and on track to help almost 34,000 people,” he said,
referring to person-to-person contact. Web searches indicate an
even higher number of people are contacting 2-1-1 online. Last year
the referral agency had 16,625 Web searches and it’s on track to
have over 23,000 this year, he said.
“Statistics show the average call works out to 2.37 people
helped per caller. If I take the same ratio and apply that to web
searches, then since we started, 2-1-1 until right now has helped
more than 146,000 people,” he said, noting the formula was
developed by asking callers how many are in their family, whether
they live in the home, how old they are, etc.
The 2-1-1 referral program is a partnership between the United
Way, the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County and Sonoma County Human
Services Division, paid for via donations, with additional funding
from the Community Foundation.
Volunteers are “always needed” to answer calls. The minimum
requirement is one, four-hour shift per week. People interested in
volunteering can call the Volunteer Center at 573-3399, or 2-1-1
Call Center Supervisor Toni Fitzpatrick at 565-2325.