Pennsylvania 211

Posted by on May 20, 2013

The Situation
•     Every hour of every day, people in our communities need access to essential health and human services,regardless of income.
•     They are looking for training, employment, food pantries, help for an aging parent, affordable housing options, support groups and physical and mental health resources.
•     Navigating the nonprofit landscape and a host of government services can be overwhelming if you don’t know where to start, and unfortunately many go without the services they need.

2-1-1 is a free, easy-to-remember phone number that connects people with important health and human services in their communities.

The Solution
2-1-1 in southeastern Pennsylvania (2-1-1 SEPA) is the right place to start for health and human services information and referrals. Help is available by phone seven days a week from8 a.m.to 8 p.m. by dialing 2-1-1 or 866-964-7922 and 24 hours a day by visiting http://www.211sepa.org.

TTY/TDD and language services are available in more than 170 languages and dialects.

And while 3-1-1 is a valuable city-wide resource for Philadelphians to get access to municipal services, 2-1-1 spans the region and provides access to thousands of health and human services throughout southeastern Pennsylvania. Callers can connect to:
•     Basic Human Needs Resources: food banks, shelters, rent assistance, utility assistance
•     Physical and Mental Health Resources: crisis intervention services, support groups, counseling
•     Employment Supports: financial assistance, job training and education programs
•     Support for Older Adults and Persons with Disabilities: Meals on Wheels, home health care, transportation, homemaker services
•     Support for Children, Youth and Families: childcare, after school programs, summer camps and recreation programs, mentoring, tutoring, protective services
•     Regional disaster preparation and response organizations

How To Join
We need your partnership to ensure that those who need our assistance can access it quickly and accurately. Being a part of the 2-1-1 database will also make it easier for your case managers to serve their clients more effectively. 2-1-1 offers great capacity-building potential to help improve service delivery and program efficiencies, such as decreasing the number of misdirected calls to state, local and other nonprofit agencies, and improving access to additional resources to best meet your clients’ needs. And what’s more,together we’ll help identify emerging trends in our communities to facilitate an informed response and improve our region.

Visit http://www.211sepa.org to register your organization or update your information in the 2-1-1 database.  If you have questions or need more information, please contactinfo@211sepa.org.