We rarely have a conversation about addressing need in the Dan River Region without someone noting how difficult it can be for community members and service providers to identify available resources.

Inconsistent program funding, staff turnover, and eligibility restrictions often complicate efforts to connect residents with resources. There are grassroots groups doing amazing work across the Dan River Region, but not everyone knows who they are, or how to contact them. Some of them do not have staff and/or have extremely limited hours of availability.

211 will not provide you with more funding or staffing, but it can make it easier for you, your community partners, and the clients you serve to find each other and work more efficiently together.

We are encouraged to call 911 when we have an emergency and 411 when we need someone’s phone number, but 211 is who we call when we do not know who to call. Callers across the nation who call 211 are connected with a live specialist who assesses your needs helps you connect to local resources who can meet those needs. They start making those connections by accessing your state’s 211 database, which is also available for the public to search online. Virginia’s database can be found at 211Virginia.org while North Carolina’s is located at NC211.org.

The databases allows 211 specialists, community members, service providers, discharge planners and others to easily search, by locality and/or need. Agency listings include basic information like how and when to contact but also shares details about eligibility, process, and even current availability. It makes it easier to identify and contact agencies that may be physically located outside of your area who do in fact provide services or other resources to your community. A list of resources relevant to your search can be printed directly from the website. The central database allows agencies to update their information in a single place instead. It also provides us with an easy to remember, easy to promote way to connect every resident of the Dan River Region with resources.

211 and its state databases are funded through a combination of private organizations like United Ways, local and state governments, and individual donations who ensure the service is provided for FREE.

It does however, require an investment of effort by local agencies. It is up to individual organizations to enter and maintain their listing in the database. Virginia-based agencies can do that HERE while North Carolina-based agencies can go HERE. Agencies can also go HERE, regardless of where they are located.

You can help market 211 with the Virginia-specific materials found HERE or national call center materials HERE.

We appreciate the staff at the United Way of Danville-Pittsylvania County for being our local point of contact for other questions related to 211. Learn more about how they support the work happening in our community by checking them out HERE.

Sources: 211.org; NC211.org; 211Virginia.org