211 Saskatchewan.
Information when you need, where you live.
Have you ever heard of 211 Saskatchewan? It’s an easy to use database you can access from your mobile device, computer, or phone to connect with human services around the province. It’s free, confidential and available 24/7, 365 days a year.
211 Saskatchewan started as a searchable website (sk.211.ca) in 2013, but last year it expanded to allow users to interact with trained professionals through a phone call, text message, or webchat.
The system boasts 5000 listings of social, community, non-clinical health, and government services throughout Saskatchewan. Phone help is available in 175 languages, including 17 Indigenous languages.
Seventy-two per cent of Canadians have full access to 211 (phone and online options) and Feb. 11 is marked as 211 Day across the country.
“It’s really about helping people navigate,” explains Kristin Nelson, director 211 Saskatchewan. “We know that systems can be quite complex. One of the benefits to 211 is that people don’t need to know the name of an organization or program.”
The searches are totally service-focused. For example, if someone is looking for childcare in Wakaw, the parameters can be entered and the result is a list of services right where the client lives.
But the service isn’t just for those experiencing a need. It can be for professionals looking to make a referral or for individuals looking to help a loved one struggling with an issue.
For those on the front lines of emergency services – such as the Regina Police Service – it’s allowed a more robust response to situations after the crisis has passed.
“It’s taken our response to emergencies and everyday calls and to a much deeper ability to provide wraparound support to those that we serve,” explains Regina police chief Evan Bray.
When Bray first started policing, he wrote the number for Mobile Crisis on the back of his notebook to share with victims after the initial emergency has ended for follow up support.
Now, he says, officers can connect people with 211, sometimes directly right at the moment. It’s like having a trunkful of pamphlets on various programs and services in the city – warmup shelters, domestic violence shelters, childcare or addiction services.
“I’ve been here my entire career. It’s just night and day in terms of what our officers can offer people now in terms of supports,” says Bray. He adds, he hears from officers regularly who have taken the time to explore supports available on 211 so they can be better informed and able to share when a need presents itself.
Don Meikle, executive director at EGADZ in Saskatoon, says a partnership with 211 Saskatchewan has helped to create a better resource for sex workers through the app I Am Not For Sale. The app provides sex workers with several features that can help locate them in an emergency.
The app links to the 211 database to provide information for services right in the community where users happen to be. As Meikle notes, sex workers can sometimes find themselves in unfamiliar territory and 211 Saskatchewan can connect them with resources close at hand in real time.
“It was really good that 211 Saskatchewan agreed to partner with us to help us to be able to do that for hard to serve individuals in the community,” says Meikle.
211 Saskatchewan is an initiative of both United Way Regina and United Way Saskatoon and Area, but the resources listed go province wide, something that’s helpful for Jan Thorson’s team at the Mobile Crisis Service.
As part of their services, Mobile Crisis also runs the Farm Distress Line which receives calls from rural areas all over the province.
“It is an absolute godsend for us. To be able to contact 211 and be able to find out if someone calling from Macoun, Sask., what’s close to Macoun, what services are available?,” says Thorson.
The confidential nature of the service also makes asking for help a little bit easier. Tracy Knutson is the executive director of STOPS to Violence. She’s seen how difficult it can be to connect with the right services when experiencing abuse.
“Reaching out for help when you are experience violence of any sort can be intimidating or frightening – whether you are the person who is experiencing violence or the person who is using violence,” Knutson says. “Most often, people just don’t know where to call for help and when they start to look, (they) get overwhelmed trying to sort through what is available.”
The expansion last year to include text, webchat and phone service with multi-lingual access increases the accessibility of the system, especially for those who don’t feel comfortable talking in person.
Whatever the need, whatever the location, 211 Saskatchewan is able to connect people with services they need.
“It really comes down to the fact that when people can connect successfully to the services they’re seeking, we can work together to build a stronger community,” explains Nelson. “And that’s what United Way is all about.”