211 connects needs with help
By DEBORAH CIRCELLI
Staff writer
While families scrambled for food and assistance after three
hurricanes ripped through the area, phones rang off the hook at the
area's main referral agency.
Tim Sylvia, director of United
Way's First Call for Help, watches Information Referral
Specialist Gretchen Fink handle the new 211 system being set
up at the United Way offices at 3747 West Int'l Speedway Blvd.
west of Daytona Beach on Jan. 5. (Photo: News-Journal/JIM
TILLER) |
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The First Call For Help center, part of the United Way of
Volusia-Flagler Counties, saw an 18 percent increase in calls from
people needing everything from shelter to federal aid, according to
Tim Sylvia, director of the center.
To better help people in the two-counties connect with area
agencies, First Call For Help is instituting a new phone system that
uses only three numbers - 211. Instead of trying to remember a
10-digit toll-free or six-digit local number, those needing
assistance will be able to dial 211 at no cost 24-hours-a-day.
The $25,000 system, replacing one more than 15-years old, is
expected to be up and running in February. The digital system is
being paid for by the Volusia County Health Department, the county's
Emergency Management Office and the county's Community Services
Division.
The center, which has six employees and may add two more,
currently receives about 90 calls a day. They refer people to 413
agencies in Volusia and Flagler counties.
Operators currently answer calls five days a week, but under the
new system operators with other 211 agencies in Jacksonville or
Orlando will pick up calls after hours and make local referrals.
Sylvia, who's also president of the Florida Alliance of
Information Referral Services, said the rollout of the new system
locally is even more important considering the recent
hurricanes.
The system, which first started in Florida in 2001 in Brevard
County, is already in effect in almost 40 counties statewide.
"We don't want anyone to fail in finding services simply because
they did not know where to start looking," Sylvia said. "We try to
cut a lot of the red tape and make it as easy as possible for people
to access what is out there."
The call center can tell a person what documentation they need to
become eligible for a variety of services. They also answer
questions such as how to obtain emergency food and shelter and,
financial aid and how parents can get their children immunized.
When the new phone system is in place, Sylvia expects calls to
increase, and he also expects more agencies to provide information
and help to the public.
People still will be able to dial the local number and toll-free
number from regular phones and from cell phones. The new system is
not expected to work for cell phones until the second quarter of
this year.
For more information on First Call For Help, call (386) 253-0563
or (877) 253-9010.
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