Lifeline celebrates National 2-1-1 Day

Agency assisted 34,232 requests in 2020, executive director reports

Feb. 11 marks National 2-1-1 Day, in recognition of the free, 24/7, user-friendly phone and online system serving 94.6 percent of the American population.

First launched nationally in 1997 by United Way of Atlanta, and locally in 2004 by United Way of Lake County, in partnership with the late Congressman Steven C. LaTourette, 2-1-1 worldwide connects some 12 million people a year to critical resources, information and services.

In the United States, over 12.8 million callers turned to 2-1-1 for help in 2018 via phone calls and web queries from people seeking resources.

According to the service, people call or search 2-1-1 looking for resources to meet basic needs, like heating or utility assistance, shelter, emergency help, or to find the closest food bank.

People also called for everyday important non-emergency needs, such as developmental screening for a child, home health care for a relative, job training or free tax filing support.

Locally, Lake County’s 2-1-1 information and referral hotline, housed at Lifeline, Inc., assisted 34,232 requests in 2020. Those included 22,490 phone calls and 11,742 queries made through the 2-1-1 online resource database.

The top needs demonstrated in 2020 included food assistance, representing 39.3 percent of requests, followed by housing/ emergency shelter with 18.1 percent, and utilities assistance at 13.9 percent.

“2-1-1 is an essential tool for helping people take better care of their families, and also for making more efficient use of a community’s nonprofit and public resources,” said Carrie Dotson, executive director of Lifeline and secretary of the Ohio Alliance of Information and Referral Systems Board.

“Over the years, we have seen the call volume demonstrate that Lake County residents are really utilizing this tool to connect to resources for help with the most basic needs,” she added. “We’ve also seen how 2-1-1 can really impact our community’s ability to respond in times of disaster, like our current novel coronavirus pandemic or the 2013 floods.”

When a resident dials 2-1-1, at no cost, the call is routed to a trained information and referral specialist, who helps identify that individual’s needs. The specialist then refers the person to the relevant human services or to health or education resources from a comprehensive database.

For example, in the case of a worker who has recently been laid off or whose hours have been reduced, the 2-1-1 specialist may share information about unemployment benefits, job search options, food stamps, food pantries, mortgage or rent help, utility assistance, counseling and other available resources.

Lifeline emphasized there is no federal funding for 2-1-1, though legislation has recently been introduced for the first time.

In 2020, in response to COVID-19, 2-1-1s in Ohio received their first state funding through the Ohio Department of Health, however all 13 of Ohio’s 2-1-1s are nearly completely locally funded.

“We are fortunate in Lake County that we have strong local support for our 2-1-1,” Dotson said. “Currently, our 2-1-1 is funded by a mix of funding led by the Lake County ADAMHS Board, but also supported by the Lake County Department of Job and Family Services, the city of Mentor, and the Lake County commissioners through Community Development Block Grant funding, in addition to senior levy dollars.

“We also have several fee-for-service agreements with our partners for specialized services that 2-1-1 provides.”

Lifeline’s 2-1-1 is a member of Ohio AIRS, a private, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to ensuring quality information and referral — commonly referred to as I&R services — throughout Ohio, a “unique process of assessment and information-giving” that enables people to make informed decisions about accessing community resources.