On Tuesday, February 11, we will celebrate National 2-1-1 Day. It has been quite a year of accomplishments for United Way 2-1-1. By dialing 2-1-1 or visiting the website at 211now.org, people are linked to information about local resources, both government and nonprofit organizations. From the single parent seeking food for their children to the senior citizen looking for in-home care, 2-1-1 brings people and community resources together.

Here are highlights of the past year:

Addiction Recovery Helpline:
The Wisconsin Addiction Recovery Helpline was developed as part of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to support people who have been impacted by the opioid crisis. People can call with questions about addictions to all substances, including alcohol and methamphetamine, whether they are struggling with addiction themselves or are concerned for a family member or friend.

Being a part of the Recovery Helpline required 2-1-1 staff to do more than 40 hours of training specific to Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (AODA). Lisa Smith, 2-1-1 Manager, said “We are working hard to connect people with local peer specialists and recovery coaches. In the short time since the Addiction Recovery Helpline has been a resource, we have already had over 100 calls across the service delivery area.” 

Text and Chat
United Way 2-1-1 introduced chat and live two-way texting. By texting your zip code to 898211, a trained Information and Referral Specialist will answer your texts Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Launched in July of 2018, we received and responded to more than 325 texts in the first six months.
 
Disaster Response
On August 28, 2018, thunderstorms, tornadoes, and flooding rains impacted 20 counties in WI, including four counties in the United Way 2-1-1 service delivery area. Statewide, the 2-1-1 system was mobilized, taking nearly 5,000 damage reports. Within those four counties, United Way 2-1-1 handled 589 damage report calls and provided up-to-the-minute information on resources available in affected communities. 
 
United Way 2-1-1 is free, confidential and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. On National 2-1-1 Day we thank our dedicated call specialists for the work they do every day. United Way 2-1-1 – Help Starts Here.

The top calls in the last 365 days (data pulled 2/10/20) in Sheboygan County include:

• Housing & Shelter 27.1% (Specifically, rent assistance)
• Utilities 16.1% (Specifically, electric)
• Mental Health & Addictions 11.1% (Specifically, substance abuse and addictions)

For more information, visit 211wisconsin.org.