Pike County Begins 2-1-1 Service

February 11th was National 2-1-1 Day

On 2-1-1 Day, Feb. 11, Pike County became the 79th Indiana county to begin 2-1-1 service! Generations is serving as the IN211 Center for Pike County. The cost for establishing and maintaining a local 2-1-1 service in Pike County for the first year is being covered by Pike County United Way’s 4Communities2 grant. Thanks to all involved for making this happen!

Christmas Eve Fire Devastates UW Building

A fire on Christmas Eve devastated the United Way of Bartholomew County (Columbus, IN) building. One of our 15 call centers, First Call for Help 211 (FCFH211), was located in that building. Their office was not completely burned but suffered smoke and water damage. The building is inhabitable, leaving 30+ other non-profits or government agencies trying to find space to regroup.

FCFH211 answers 2-1-1 calls from 8am-5pm M-F except weekends and major holidays. Our telephony is set up so that our Indianapolis IN211 Center, Connect2Help (C2H), answers FCFH211's calls the rest of the time so coverage is 24/7/365.

Since Christmas was on Friday and the following two days were the weekend, C2H was already scheduled to answer FCFH211's phones for the next three days. C2H generously offered to keep answering FCFH211’s calls until FCFH was back up.

The Republic, the local newspaper in Columbus, generously offered office space and telephones to FCFH211 and by Wednesday FCFH211's line were open and they were receiving calls. C2H answered FCFH211's calls Monday and Tuesday, so 2-1-1 calls were continuously received even though the building was destroyed!

Anne Dolan and her staff at FCFH211 did an amazing job, not only in regrouping so quickly, but in keeping the community advised of the status of other service providers who were also affected by the fire.

Call Volume Jumps

Call Volume Jumps Because of Poor Economy

In 2009, IN211 Centers handled over 444,000 calls, a 19% increase from 2008. Over 453,000 needs were identified and nearly 637,000 referrals were given. All were record highs as more counties are added and those in need become more and more aware of the benefits of 2-1-1. However, funding for 2-1-1 has not increased with demand. Most of our IN211 Call Centers, already highly efficient, can not afford to hire more Information & Referral Specialists and are being stretched to the limit. Unfortunately, this has resulted in increased wait time for callers and an increase in dropped calls.

Congress is currently considering a bill, ‘Calling for 211 Act’, that would help fund 2-1-1 across the nation. The House bill (HR 211) and the Senate bill (S 211) are identical in language. Both bills have a majority of members who are co-sponsors (217 in the House and 57 in the Senate). We at Indiana 211 Partnership believe that the passage of this bill is imperative to, not only helping to provide the infrastructure for excellent 2-1-1 service, but also to assuring the longevity of 2-1-1 service in Indiana. If you agree, we urge you to contact Senators Bayh and Lugar and your Congressman to encourage them to support the ‘Calling for 211 Act’. You may email your support by clicking on the appropriate links below:

*Denotes co-sponsor.
Senator Bayh
*Senator Lugar
Rep. Burton
Rep. Buyer
*Rep. Carson
*Rep. Donnelly
Rep Ellsworth
Rep. Hill
Rep. Pence
*Rep. Souder
*Rep. Visclosky

In This Issue

Pike Begins 2-1-1 Service

Christmas Eve Fire in Bartholomew

Call Volume Jumps

211 News Update is distributed quarterly.

Need Immediate Help

Administrative Contact

IN211 Web Site

Map of Coverage

Fact Sheet

Annual Report

Area 9 Agency
Area 10 Agency on Aging
AIRS-Indiana
Attain
CICOA Aging & INhome Solutions
Connect2Help (Formerly Information & Referral Network)
Crisis Contact Hopeline
First Call For Help 211
First Call For Help/United Way of Allen County
Harrison County Community Services
Indiana Association of Area Agencies on Aging
Indiana Association for Child Care Resource and Referrals
Indiana Association of United Ways
Indiana Family & Social Services Administration
Indiana Family Helpline of Indiana State Department of Health
Indiana Minority Health Coalition
Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor
Indiana State Library
Information Link of Southern Indiana, Inc.
Lafayette Crisis Center
Lake Area United Way
LifeStream Services, Inc.
LifeTime Resources, Inc.
Mental Health America of Greater Indianapolis
Northwest Indiana Community Action
United Way of Central Indiana
United Way of Elkhart County 211
United Way of Howard County
United Way of Porter County
United Way of St. Joseph County
United Way of Southwestern Indiana
Vigo County Lifeline

Contact Us

IN211
3901 N. Meridian St., Ste. 9, Indianapolis, Indiana 46208
www.in211.org

Administrative Phone:
(317) 921-7527 - Office
(317) 921-1397 - Fax
jkrom@in211.org