2-1-1 help line introduced this summer

By this summer, information about health and human services and area volunteer opportunities will be three digits away.

On July 1, Southeast Missouri residents can dial the nationwide 2-1-1 telephone number to reach First Call for Help -- a local information and referral hotline.

After the nationwide number is implemented, First Call for Help program coordinator Denise Wimp said, "services will be enhanced."

Currently, First Call for Help serves Cape Girardeau, Scott, Bollinger, Perry and Stoddard counties. The telephone hotline, which is available only on weekdays, is designed to connect people in need with appropriate resources.

"Once we switch over to this new system, there will be someone available to provide information 24 hours a day, seven days a week," Wimp said.

The 211 help line was launched in 1997 by the United Way of metropolitan Atlanta, and now reaches into 30 states and the District of Columbia. Kansas City, Mo.'s United Way chapter started offering the 211 number last year. According to Pat Condiff of the Kansas City chapter, the service has been hugely successful, receiving 80,000 calls in the first year, or double their initial estimate.

In February, the Missouri Foundation for Health and the United Way of Greater St. Louis committed $8.5 million to bring the 211 help line to the rest of Missouri.

Nancy Jernigan, executive director of the United Way of Southeast Missouri, said the help line will provide residents with access to services on local, state and national levels.

Once the 211 service becomes available, residents who call the help line will be connected to the statewide call service in St. Louis. They will either be provided with information about a particular service, or their call will be routed to the appropriate county.

First Call for Help will continue to operate under the umbrella of the United Way-implemented 211 help line.

Since its creation in 1999, First Call for Help has seen the volume of calls in its five-county service area increase drastically.

"That's been a real struggle for them," Jernigan said. "More and more often, when you call First Call for Help, you get the answering machine."

Wimp believes once phone calls are funnelled through the 211 help line, residents will receive assistance much quicker.

The 211 help line will also provide residents with information about volunteer opportunities.

Jernigan said the help lines are critical during a disaster. Following hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, the Federal and Emergency Management Agency recognized the accomplishments of the 211 help line in Louisiana and Texas, and urged other states to implement the service.

"We probably don't realize all the things we will be able to tap into from this," Jernigan said. "The service will definitely be an enhancement to those counties that don't have an information and referral system, and for those of us who already have something like First Call for Help, this is going to be an easier phone number to remember."

The 211 help line will offer access to the following types of services:

• Basic human needs such as food banks, clothing, shelters, rental and utility assistance.
• Physical and mental health resources such as medical information, crisis intervention, support groups, counseling, drug and alcohol intervention, rehabilitation, Medicaid and Medicare, maternal health and children's health insurance programs.
• Employment support such as unemployment benefits, financial assistance, job training, transportation assistance and education programs.
• Support for senior citizens and persons with disabilities such as home health care, adult day care, congregate meals, Meals on Wheels, transportation and homemaker services.
• Support for children, teens and families such as quality childcare, Success by 6, after school programs, Head Start, family resource center, summer camps and recreation programs, mentoring, tutoring and protective services.
• Volunteer opportunities and donations.

jfreeze@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246