Thursday, January 22, 2009

Bridge Over Troubled Waters


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I was reminded today that often people don't know where to turn in times of crisis. This is not a pitch for United Way...Just information that may someday be of use to you or someone you know...It is also a place to begin exploring ways to volunteer if that happens to be one of your New Year's resolutions!

Every hour of every day, hundreds of people need essential human services - they are looking for training, employment, food pantries, help for an aging parent, addiction prevention programs for their teenage children, affordable housing options, support groups and ways of becoming part of their community. 2-1-1 allows people to give help and to get help.

2-1-1 is an easy to remember telephone number that, where available, connects people with important community services and volunteer opportunities. In 2007, 2-1-1 services in the United States answered nearly 10 million calls. The implementation of 2-1-1 is spearheaded by United Ways and information and referral agencies in states and local communities.
United Way of America (UWA) and the Alliance for Information and Referral Systems (AIRS) strongly support federal funding so that every American has access to this essential service.

As of November 2008, 2-1-1 serves over 234 million Americans (more than 78% of the entire population) through 244 active 2-1-1 systems covering all or part of 48 states (including 31 states with 90%+ coverage) plus Washington DC and Puerto Rico. The remaining states are all in various stages of planning and implementation. Every few weeks, these coverage numbers increase.

To find out more about your state, click here.

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