Every day, United Way 211 in Northeast Florida receives hundreds of calls from people in need.
Mothers searching for diapers for their children. Veterans looking for a warm meal and bed. A grandmother struggling to put food on her family’s table. A hardworking person trying to keep his lights on after a recent layoff.
Voices of all ages, races and incomes are found on the other end of the line. They call in hope of a helping hand to ease their burden, support through a particularly tough time and, sometimes, just someone to talk to.
But recently the team at United Way 211 received a different call — a call from a woman named Hazel (not her real name) who simply wanted to say two words: thank you.
“I am eternally grateful,” Hazel said. “Thank you for your service. God bless you all. I just can’t tell you how much I really appreciate this.”
United Way 211 is a vital, life-saving helpline that connects anyone in need to available community resources. The 211 database includes a vast list of organizations and resources like food pantries, shelters, mental-health clinics, financial management services, child-care resources, crisis assistance, employment services and much more.
And it’s all free and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The local 211 — part of a national network of 211s across the country — covers nine counties here in Northeast Florida: Baker, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Hamilton, Nassau, Putnam, St. Johns and Suwannee. During 2020, a record-breaking year due to COVID-19, the organization’s community resource specialists answered 95,275 calls, connecting these callers to more than 92,800 community service referrals.
211 staff continue to serve on the frontlines of individuals in crisis and families in need in Northeast Florida. In 2021, the staff answered 111,615 calls and issued 96,406 referrals. The highest needs in the community continue to be rent and utility assistance.
United Way 211 also provides the infrastructure for other critical support services, including new initiatives such as Mission United’s dedicated care coordination for veterans and Ride United’s transportation and meal-delivery programs.
This summer, United Way 211 soft-launched the 988 short dial for quicker access to mental health care in partnership with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. 988 officially launches nationwide in January. With this lifeline expansion comes the addition of a dedicated team of trained crisis specialists to the Northeast Florida 211 team and the opportunity to save more lives.
“We are thrilled to have the additional resources needed to save more lives,” said Jeff Winkler, head of basic needs at United Way of Northeast Florida who oversees United Way 211. “This 988 expansion will allow us to hire highly trained specialists certified in crisis and suicide de-escalation while also freeing up our information and referral lines for additional call volume. We’re grateful for this new opportunity and the lives we will change because of it.”
In the midst of all of this growth, the United Way 211 team is also planning for the future: investing in new technology to reach more people, further increasing staff to answer more calls, and forging new partnerships to expand the current resource database.
To help contribute to this effort, go to unitedwaynefl.org/give.
