Losing 211 will have a negative impact on those in need, especially older people

Last year alone, 211 assisted almost 12,000 Sarasota County callers with nearly 19,000 referrals, according to United Way Suncoast.

The announcement of 211's pending suspension sent shockwaves through the community. Worried residents called United Way directly. Area nonprofits and foundations reached out to the commission, asking for it to restore funding.

Members of North Port's Homeless Outreach Team expressed concern that 211's disappearance would make the already challenging prospect of helping people in the housing crisis that much more arduous.

Kevin Stiff, interim CEO of Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness, said 211 is a crucial resource for his agency and the greater community.

While his staff receives referrals from 211 regarding housing, it also steers clients to 211 for help finding services outside his agency's scope – for other aspects of their crisis, such as mental health.

“We are not actually an emergency response center,” he said. “We are not set up for that.”

It will have a particular impact on older residents, who are not as accustomed to navigating text messages or the Internet for information as their younger counterparts – especially in the middle of a crisis, said Ola Medrzycki, friendship at home manager for the Senior Friendship Centers.

“It's very important for our seniors to get a live person,” Medrzycki said. “They are not good with press this, press this, go here.”

As with Suncoast Partnership, she receives referrals from 211 and also steers many senior clients there for help finding other services she can't provide, knowing that 211 operators have access to a massive database of programs.

Now, following a year in which her office has been flooded with calls from despondent retirees on fixed incomes and facing rent hikes – in one day alone she received 70 voicemail messages – Medrzycki fears that without 211 many seniors will fall between the cracks.

And, she suspects, more of them will be calling her. “They were a lifeline,” she said of 211. “If the county changes its mind that would be wonderful.”

This story comes from a partnership between the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County.

Saundra Amrhein covers the Season of Sharing campaign, along with issues surrounding housing, utilities, child care and transportation in the area. She can be reached at samrhein@gannett.com.