What is 211?
Every hour of every day, someone in Alameda County searches for services, from substance abuse treatment to care for a child or aging parent. Over 1,000 community agencies provide a myriad of health and human service programs in Alameda County. Finding your way through this maze can seem insurmountable. Where do you start?
2-1-1: Help starts here
2-1-1 is a free, accessible, 3-digit telephone number that enables all Alameda County residents easy access to customized multilingual health, housing and human services information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. Although available to everyone, 2-1-1 is especially critical for vulnerable populations such as single parent and very low-income families, frail elders, people with disabilities, caregivers, and non-English speakers who are in need of such vital resources as emergency housing, food, financial aid, healthcare, and legal assistance. 2-1-1 has also proven to be a critical public communications tool during recovery efforts after a disaster.
2-1-1 provides callers with information about and referrals to human services for every day needs and in times of crisis. We provide information about:
- Basic Human Needs Resources: food banks, clothing closets, shelters, rent assistance, utility assistance.
- Physical and Mental Health Resources: health insurance programs, Medicaid and Medicare, maternal health, Children's Health Insurance Program, medical information lines, crisis intervention services, support groups, counseling, drug and alcohol intervention and rehabilitation.
- Employment Supports: financial assistance, job training, transportation assistance, education programs.
- Support for Older Americans and Persons with Disabilities: adult day care, congregate meals, Meals on Wheels, respite care, home health care, transportation, homemaker services.
- Support for Children, Youth and Families: childcare, after school programs, Head Start, family resource centers, summer camps and recreation programs, mentoring, tutoring, protective services.
- Volunteer Opportunities and Donations.
| Dial 2-1-1 for free, 24-hour community, health and social services information. Like 9-1-1 for emergency service, 2-1-1 has been set aside by the Federal Communications Commission for the public to easily access community information. Callers receive personalized information from a live call specialist. Call specialists can also help callers find out where to go to volunteer or donate to their favorite cause. |  |
Every corner of the community is touched by 2-1-1, from the businessperson who uses 2-1-1 to help an employee find drug treatment, to the family who calls 2-1-1 about financial scams against an elderly grandparent. Military families use 2-1-1 to contact their various service branch's family service hotlines. Law enforcement agencies see scarce resources freed up when inappropriate calls to 9-1-1 decline because the public has another easily-remembered number to call for non-emergency needs.
National three-digit number
Though only introduced in 1997, 2-1-1 dialing already reaches 192 million
people in 41 states. Well over 65 percent of the country has access to
2-1-1. (For more information, see www.211.org
) In California, eleven counties are currently operating 2-1-1
service. More than half of all Californians have 2-1-1 service available.
Online, by phone, or in print
2-1-1's powerful search engine is available online for people who want
to search its service database themselves. Users will also be able to
look up services in Eden I & R's published directory, the Big Blue
Book. For those who dial 2-1-1 by phone, calls are answered by call specialists
who are bilingual in Spanish and have access to other languages through
a professional interpreters service.
For more information, see: What is 211? (powerpoint presentation)
Or read: 50 Ways 211 Works (PDF doc)
