211 is here

Cramahe Township residents join the rest of Northumberland County in welcoming 211 services.

On Wednesday, May 19, Northumberland United Way Executive Director Lynda Kay, with municipal, provincial and federal elected representatives on hand, officially launched 211, the free three-digit telephone number that gives callers access to information about a full range of government programs, social and health services, legal and financial assistance, food and shelter, and child, youth and senior services and programs.

Northumberland residents can now find the location of food banks, where to find help for an elderly parent or how to fill out government forms, said Pam Hillier, executive director of Community Connection, part of the national 211 system.

For many people, finding information about about services is very confusing, said Ms. Hillier. And many times, tracking down numbers in a phone book is a daunting task.

“If you’re looking for a food bank, it’s not listed under ‘F’ in the White Pages,” she said. “And in order to find Ontario Works, you need to look in the Blue Pages.”

The 211 service coordinates all the information in one place and is available 24/7. Each call is “live answered” confidential and multilingual. Through a three-way calling feature, 211 service is offered in 150 languages. Call centre employees are paid staff, not volunteers, and each is a trained information specialist.

With the launch of the Northumberland service, another 80,000 Ontarions now have access to 211. It is hoped the service will be province-wide by 2012.

The provincial government has committed $13.5 million to extend 211 across the province, commented Northumberland-Quinte West MPP Lou Rinaldi.

Statistics gathered in 2008 in the 211 Central East Ontario Region (southern Georgian Bay) recorded 15,000 calls to the service. The top five queries were about government information, health services/doctors, financial assistance, community support services, and mental health services. About 10 per cent of the calls dealt with information about basic needs – housing, emergency shelter, utilities assistance, rent arrears and transportation.

The 211 service will help track the needs of the community to determine service gaps.

It’s taken four years and many partners – start-up and infrastructure funding from the provincial government, community support from Northumberland United Way, dedication of service organizations such as info Northumberland and Community Connections Collingwood – to get the phone information service up and running, said Ms. Kay.

“If you need an ambulance or police, call 911. If you need a number for Pepe’s Pizza, call 411. But if you need information about services in your community, call 211,” added Ms. Hillier.

The 211 information service is also available toll-free at 1-866-743-7818 and online at 211Northumberland.ca.