Phone Bank Provides Health & Human Services Information

It’s not as well known as 911, but if you dial 211, you can find help and information regarding health and human services in Riverside County.

The 211 phone bank in Riverside is open for calls 24 hours, seven days a week.

One of eight programs offered by the nonprofit Community Connect, operators help connect people to county agencies that can assist callers from everything from where they can get a meal, to after school programs.

“They don’t know to navigate the system. Like the Department of Social Services has a lot of services, but people aren’t really familiar with it,” said Craig Redelsperger, Program Director of Community Connect. “So by dialing 211, we can get them connected to the services that they do need.”

Last year, 211 Riverside County handled close to 80,000 calls. Due to the tough economy, this year that number is expected to rise to 100,000.