Gilroy – County residents can now dial 2-1-1 on their telephones to connect with providers of child care, drug counseling, job training and hundreds of other social services.
The free and confidential service will operate 24 hours a day and offer assistance in 140 different languages, according to representatives of the United Way Silicon Valley, which launched the information and referral line today in Santa Clara County.
The service also will link individuals to volunteer opportunities and help coordinate emergency response.
“Absolutely everyone in our community will benefit from 2-1-1,” said Amari Romero-Thomas, senior vice president at United Way Silicon Valley. “Bringing this critical service to Santa Clara County has taken a substantial public-private effort. United Way has worked closely with county and city officials as well as business and community leaders to get 2-1-1 up and running in Santa Clara County.”
Specially trained, multilingual call-center specialists are expected to field 40,000 calls in the first year. The call volume is expected to double within three to four years. To help manage the calls at times of high volumes, the agency has contracted with the Interface Children and Family Services, a longtime 2-1-1 service provider in Ventura County.
United Way Silicon Valley has committed $150,000 in seed money for the 2-1-1 service and has raised nearly $1 million from outside sources. Major contributors included IBM, Kaiser Permanente and Santa Clara County, which contributed $150,000.
“We are pleased to be a major sponsor of this initiative,” said Supervisor Don Gage, chair of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. “This collaborative effort will help county residents to connect with vital safety-net services.”
The program is expected to cost $1.3 million annually and will require “significant” federal support in the long run, according to United Way officials. To that end, U.S. Representative Anna G. Eshoo (D-Palo Alto) has introduced federal legislation for $700 million in matching grants for the 2-1-1 service.
The 2-1-1 service was born in Atlanta in 1997 and now serves more than 207 million people in 41 states, according to the United Way. In California, 2-1-1 service is offered in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Ventura and now Santa Clara County.
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For more information about on the new 2-1-1 servicwe, go to www.uwsv.com
