Posted: Thursday, Nov 13, 2008 - 09:49:16 am CST |
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By ROGER MEISSEN
The Fulton Sun
When
people don't know where to turn, more and more are calling a relatively
new phone service to answer their questions.
After only a year, Missouri's
2-1-1 help line has answered those questions for more than 87,000 in our
state.
“This is a brand new service that started in the Kansas City area in
2006 - only covering the counties around them - and then expanded it
statewide last year,” said Kathy Richey Liddle, Callaway County United
Way executive director. “With more than 10,000 health and human services
organizations and government programs throughout Missouri, it's hard to
know where to turn.
“By dialing 2-1-1, our call specialists are there to help you through
the maze.”
The 2-1-1 service helps people find a wide range of health and human
services. That assistance ranges from food and shelter to job counseling
services and health resources. It aids people in finding both local and
statewide services from community-based organizations and government
agencies.
Of the 87,490 calls made this year, 3,200 people called with questions
about mortgage assistance, 1,700 were made for questions about the
Earned Income Credit free tax preparation locations and 608 people
dialed for disaster assistance.
But 2-1-1 can also serve a purpose for those who want to help out in
times of need. Call centers received more than 3,000 from people trying
to find out how people could help during this year's summer flooding.
“We knew it was important for United Way to be able to offer this free service to help the residents of Missouri,” Richey Liddle said. “We're grateful that our main funder, the Missouri Foundation for Health, understood its importance as well.”
While the statewide number of calls seem high, most of them come from more urban areas than Callaway County. More than 70 percent of calls came from the greater St. Louis area - 62,347 calls - while only 211 calls were received from Callaway County residents.
Richey Liddle said is partially due to people just not knowing about the service.
“It's just like any new thing; it will take awhile for people to get used to using that phone number, but once they do I think they will find it extremely valuable,” Richey Liddle said. “The United Way in Callaway County hasn't put up any money for it; we just help promote it.
“We've tried to include that information when going around and talking with groups about our fall campaign.”
Richey Liddle said people still call the Callaway United Way when they need help, but this service could replace them as the first stop for those wondering where to get help.
“I still get a lot of calls from people in Callaway County needing assistance and usually I go ahead and tell them what agency they need to call,” Richey Liddle said. “Sometimes they have a request that maybe one of our agencies don't cover or they need additional information, that's when I tell them to call 2-1-1.
“We're definitely using it in this area and I think it will get to the point that some people just call 2-1-1 instead of calling me because it's such a great service.”