Santa Cruz County has been unable to raise enough money for the 211 service, which connects callers to health and human service assistance.
Only 10 percent of California residents lack access to a 211 phone referral service. The people of Santa Cruz County are among them. 211 is a 24-hour service similar to 911 that helps people in need obtain health and human service assistance, including information about food and shelter, counseling, and medical services, as well as suicide prevention and volunteer opportunities. Though the service has proved helpful in other areas of California, Santa Cruz County has so far been unable to raise the $142,000 needed to set up the service.
The problem is now being tackled by the United Way. It hopes to raise enough money from local governments, foundations, businesses, and individuals to get the service up and running by July 1. As part of their campaign, they are pointing to the important role that 211 played in San Diego in 2007, coordinating local efforts during a massive wildfire. They contend that the service would play an equally important role here in the event of a natural disaster including wildfires and earthquakes.
In order to reduce operating costs, calls placed locally would be handled by an experience call center already operating in San Francisco. “It was really easy for them to add us on without a lot of extra costs,” says Mary Lou Goeke, Executive Director of United Way of Santa Cruz County. She believes that 211 is vital to the wellbeing of the county’s residents especially now. “There’s a new generation of people who need help and don’t know where to turn,” she says. If the local community pulls through, they may have a place to turn sooner than they thinks.
Read More at the Santa Cruz Sentinel and United Way.
