United Way hotline links needy, services

Referrals point callers in right direction

Unemployed and living on food stamps, Joan Gillotti found it increasingly hard to make ends meet.

Once the rent and utilities were paid at her two-bedroom apartment in DeLand, Gillotti, 28, had little money left for anything else. Eventually, she ran out of basics such as soap and shampoo, and had no funds to buy more.

"The [disability] checks had to pay bills, not only my rent," said Gillotti, who receives monthly disability checks of $615. "With food stamps, you can't get toiletries."

Two weeks ago, she got her toiletries by calling 211, the United Way's 24-hour hotline that provides a referral service to Volusia and Flagler county residents. Callers receive referrals to 416 government and nonprofit agencies that provide 1,145 different programs.

The toll-free number, launched Feb. 11, was intended to provide callers with a free and fast way to access the United Way's referral service, which has been around for more than 15 years, agency officials said this week.

The 211 service, which also provides callers with information on how to volunteer and donate goods, is not new. Launched nationally in 1997, the hotline services 31 states, including the District of Columbia, and reaches out to 108 million Americans. In Central Florida, the referral number also is available to residents in Brevard, Osceola, Orange and Seminole counties.

Operators at the United Way's call center in Daytona Beach say they give callers referral numbers for agencies such as the Jewish Foundation, the Florida Department of Children and Families and Halifax Urban Ministries, or call the agencies themselves to find help for the callers.

In Gillotti's case, operators called New Beginnings, a nonprofit agency in Deltona, which eventually gave her much-needed toiletry items, said Willette Ramseur, a United Way information and referral specialist.

"It's a good number," Gillotti said of the 211 hotline. "I felt good that somebody reached out to help."

Another caller, a 40-year-old DeLand woman, said she called the 211 number last week because her $24,000 annual salary was not enough to make the $472 monthly mortgage payments on her three-bedroom house.

She became the family's breadwinner when her husband was injured in a traffic accident last October and has been unable to work since then.

The woman called 211 and the United Way was able to get her a $200 check from the Central Baptist Church in Daytona Beach and Jewish Federation in Ormond Beach.

"[The check] helped out really good because I could put groceries in the house," said the woman, who asked that her name not be used to protect her family's privacy. "It helped me put gas in the car, so I can go to work."

The Rev. Dave Phillips of Central Baptist Church said the 211 hotline will make it easier for his church to help people.

"One of the challenges of the United Way and all of the organizations that are helping people, is getting [us] connected with the right people," Phillips said. "The hotline is certainly an easy number for people to remember."

Tim Sylvia, the director of the Volusia and Flagler 211 hotline, said plans have been in the works since 2000 to launch a local 211 hotline. Prior to the hotline, residents could only dial 386-253-0564 or 877-253-9010 to get the referral services.

Five years later, the seed money came through and the hotline became a reality.

"It's a great service, but it takes a while to get the community behind it," Sylvia said.

United Way officials received $25,000 from Volusia County for a new phone system, and the organization chipped in $15,000 from its own funds to get the $38,000 needed to launch the 211 system.

It will cost about $200,000 a year to keep the hotline running. Part of the money will fund the salaries of three full-time and three part-time employees that staff the call center, a tiny room in the United Way's office on a rural stretch of International Speedway Boulevard in west Daytona Beach.

Although 211 is an efficient system, it does have its drawbacks. For instance, cell-phone users cannot use the number.

"That [the cell phone issue] is one of the biggest challenges for everybody across the country," said Tino Paz, interim director of 211 Community Resources, a United Way program that runs the hotline in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties.

Agencies that operate the 211 system statewide are having discussions with cellular-phone companies to eventually incorporate the 211 number on a mobile line, Sylvia said.

Gillotti said she thinks the system will benefit many people once they get word of it.

"If somebody on the street needed help, they can dial 211," she said.

Ken Ma can be reached at kma@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7914.