Calls for Help Increase Dramatically at United Way’s 2-1-1 Service

When the calendar turns to January 1, 2012 United Way's 24-hour, statewide 2-1-1 call service will have received roughly 90,000 calls from residents seeking housing, utility payments, procuring food, becoming financially stable, veterans services, emergency relief and childcare help. The call volume is a sharp increase from the 30,000 calls it received at the beginning of the recession in 2006. Adding to the increased need for assistance with services will be the return of our nation's service members from overseas, an influx projected to impact the call center beginning in the first few months of 2012.

"The number one concern from callers right now is the effect that their long term unemployment and federal regulations will have on their benefit packages," said Paul L. Mina Executive Director of Mass2-1-1. "Callers want to know when their benefits will be shut off."

For returning service members who have been overseas as the recession wound down, their homecoming is proving to be a wake up call to the new economy.

"Unfortunately many returning veterans will be unemployed or underemployed and they will require help navigating their options within a poor job market," Mina continued. "The most common call from returning service members is about discovering they are no longer employed by their former companies. While their employers were required to hold their jobs for them during deployment, there is little consolation when their business has gone bankrupt or their entire department has been redundant."

United Way's 2-1-1 service has a close partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Veterans Services to ensure that callers receive quick direction to services including financial assistance, education benefits, workforce development, housing programs and general outreach services.

As service members return from their deployment, Mina predicts a progressive uptick in call volume. "We generally experience a growth in calls from returning service members after they have been home for about three months. We want to make sure that they are aware of the 2-1-1 service so that they can get on their feet quickly before the passage of time makes matters worse."

Earlier this year, Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray announced a partnership between United Way's 2-1-1 service and the Patrick-Murray Administration's Department of Veterans Services (DVS). As part of the partnership with the DVS, United Way's 2-1-1 service added an expanded list of veterans' services to its database to support the Commonwealth's ongoing efforts to assist veterans and their families. Massachusetts is a national leader for Veterans' services, and the partnership with DVS provides over 400,000 Veterans and families living in Massachusetts with an additional resource to access the benefits and services available to them.

Learn more about United Way's 2-1-1 service by visiting: www.mass211.org or find help online by visiting: http://www.mass211help.org/. If you are unable to contact us by dialing 2-1-1, or are calling from out of state, please call us directly at 1-877-211-MASS (6277).