2-1-1 Celebrates One-Year Anniversary

United Way celebrates one-year anniversary of its Missouri
2-1-1 help line

More than 87,490 calls have been placed to United Way’s Missouri 2-1-1 help line since November 13, 2007. With one year running, the Missouri 2-1-1 help line has exceeded expectations across the state. This fast, free, confidential give or get help line for health and human services is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the state of Missouri for those calling from a land line or AT&T cell phones. Other cell phone users and metro-east Illinois residents should call 800-427-4626 for the same service.  Information and resources, including a searchable database of services available can be found at: www.211missouri.org. “We’re so pleased that 2-1-1 has been such a success,” said Jennifer Kennally, President and CEO of United Way of the Ozarks. “We knew it was important for United Way to be able to offer this free service to help the residents of Missouri and especially the people of the greater Springfield area. We’re grateful that the main funder of 2-1-1, Missouri Foundation for Health, understood its importance as well. It can be overwhelming not knowing where to turn for help. The Call Center staff who man the phones 24 hours a day are trained to refer callers to the organizations that can assist with their needs.”“With more than 10,000 health and human service organizations and government programs throughout Missouri, it’s hard to know where to turn,” said Kennally. “By dialing 2-1-1, the call specialists are there to help you through the maze.” Number and type of calls

 

 

 

Most of the calls made to 2-1-1 are from people looking for help with basic needs such as utility, rent and food assistance. More and more calls are coming in regarding mortgage assistance. The 2-1-1 call specialists can help people find health and human service assistance on everything from food and shelter to job counseling services, or health resources. It is also available for everyday and non-emergency needs, and offers easy access to community-based organizations and government agencies that provide services.  People also can call 2-1-1 to volunteer support or donate help to agencies. For example, during the summer flooding throughout the state, more than 3,000 calls were received to find out how people could help.Disaster response

 

 

 

·         Received 608 calls for disaster-related assistance such as floods, tornadoes and ice storms.

·         During the 2008 summer, 2-1-1 received 79 heat-related calls.

Special programs

·         Nearly 1,700 calls came in for the Earned Income Tax Credit free tax preparation locations throughout the state.

·         More than 3,200 calls during the first year have come in statewide for mortgage assistance.

 

The Missouri United Ways, including United Way of the Ozarks, work with United Way of Greater St. Louis to promote the service.  The 2-1-1 Call Center is located at the United Way of Greater St. Louis, with data collection hubs in Cape Girardeau, Columbia, Springfield, and St. Louis. Resource Specialists in each data hub focus on updating records about health, health-related and social services to ensure that callers are always receiving up-to-date information. 

Campaign Wraps Up with a Huge Thank You to the Community

United Way Raises More Funds This Year
Exceptional Effort by Volunteers Applauded

 

United Way of the Ozarks announced today that it is projecting $3,443,698 raised during its annual campaign, which is $2,627 more than last year.   United Way’s Campaign Cabinet and other volunteers gather tonight to celebrate and applaud outstanding efforts.  The cabinet will also discuss overall campaign progress and great company and organization campaigns that helped United Way reach
this point.  

 

United Way campaign chair, John Wilson said, “This amount represents 98% of the campaign goal, but we still have work to do.  This total is incumbent on people returning their pledges to United Way.  There are many companies running late campaigns and several campaigns not in yet.  We owe it to our partner agencies to help these companies run the very best campaigns they can.”  Wilson goes on to say, “We have had many gratifying moments during this campaign:

 

• Associated Wholesale Grocers organized an inaugural golf tournament that netted $21,000
• We increased our United Way presentations to companies by 44% this year
• Employees of our partner agencies increased their overall giving by 2%.    
• Megavolt increased its employee and corporate giving by 70%. 
• City Utilities employees increased their giving from $151,000 to $161,000
• The Bank of Missouri increased its giving by 89%
• The 9^th Annual ANPAC Car Show for Kids raised over $19,000

 

“There are more incredible campaign success stories that have gotten us where we are today, but we have also experienced some challenges that had tremendous impact on the campaign.  We feel, however, that in this economic environment that to raise more than we did last year is phenomenal.  My special thanks to all the incredible volunteers who helped us get here.”  

 

 Jennifer Kennally, President & CEO for United Way said, “These are hard economic times for everyone, but more so for people who are already one paycheck away from disaster. When the economy turns downward, the need for services increases at a time when most agencies see a decrease in contributions.   We are very grateful to our volunteers and this community for helping us surpass last year’s fundraising efforts.  But we still have work to do, and every dollar counts.”