Today, February 11th, is appropriately on the eleventh day of the second month of the year, or 211 Day, and that has been celebrated for the last twelve years.
211 Ontario has been helping people navigate the local network of human services for all that time. Perth Huron United Way Director of Resource Development & Communications, Susan Faber, describes 211 as a way to find help for a variety of things.
“It’s a way to find help and it could be a really big challenge that you have, like maybe you are facing eviction, or maybe your child just needs help with homework, maybe you’re looking for specific mental health help. It’s hard to sometimes find where those programs and services are.”
But Faber says, if you call 211, 24/7 365, a real live person will answer.
“If you call 211, a live, real operator, counsellor, will answer the phone and will chat to you with compassion and care and work through what your challenges are and then give you a list of local resources that can help you.”
Faber also points out, 211 service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and in more than 100 languages. It’s free and it’s confidential. She says, by celebrating the day they can make more people aware of the service and she adds, when we’re dealing with the pandemic, there are people needing help now that have never been in that position before.
Perth County Warden Jim Aitcheson chimed in on the importance of the 211 service, following a discussion on supporting the service at county council recently. Aitcheson says the service is crucial and important, especially now with the pandemic making things more difficult for all kinds of people that want to access numerous social services.
“So people access the 211 service, they should be able to get contacts for social services, housing, mental health, pretty much any service they need to come in contact with. So the biggest problem for people is figuring out who to call, and this service should solve that problem for them.”
-With files from Ryan Drury
