United Way Holds Stakeholders Meeting To Discuss 2-1-1 Program
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Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
Representatives from Kosciusko County service, county and school agencies met Wednesday to discuss how they can use United Way’s 2-1-1 program to better accommodate the clients and families they serve. Mary Gerard, United Way of Kosciusko County community impact coordinator; Pat Coy, United Way of Kosciusko County executive director; and Dave Sisk, 2-1-1 program director, South Bend, met with the organizations to discuss how the program is meeting the needs of those in Kosciusko County. Also discussed were ways to improve the program’s services for the clients and families they serve. United Way officials met with representatives from Bowen Center, Kosciusko Home Care and Hospice, Rose Home, Combined Community Services, Kosciusko Community Senior Center, director of curriculum for Wawasee Community School Corp., the county, Salvation Army, Beaman Home and Serenity House. 2-1-1 is a United Way free, confidential 24-hour information and referral assistance program that directs those in need to resources in their community for food, counseling, utility assistance, transportation, housing, shelter, legal aid, clothing and education. The program serves Kosciusko, Elkhart, Fulton, LaPorte, Marshall and St. Joseph counties. Kosciusko County’s call center is in St. Joseph County. People do not need to provide their name when calling the 2-1-1 number, but are asked to provide their zip code and then specialists direct the caller to service organizations in their local community that can assist them. “Stakeholders are the representatives that work with people who can utilize our 2-1-1 service who are in need of referrals to agencies and programs that can help them,” Gerard said. “This meeting helps the stakeholders to improve the needs of the community and offer better services.” Sisk provided a 2-1-1 2010 annual report. He said, in 2010 United Way 2-1-1 answered 1,789 calls for individuals and families in Kosciusko County, and 78 percent of callers were females. There were 61 percent of callers from Kosciusko County who were seeking housing, utility assistance, food, employment or government assistance such as food stamps, Medicaid or tax preparation assistance. Sisk said there were 1,500 calls received in 2009 from Kosciusko County. Sisk said the top 10 organizations that received the most referrals from United Way 2-1-1 in Kosciusko County were Salvation Army at 11 percent, CCS at 9 percent, Wayne Township Trustee and Real Services at 6 percent each, Division of Family Resources Kosciusko County and Housing Authority of Warsaw both at 4 percent, Turkey Creek Township trustee at 3 percent, and Medication and dental assistance, Clay Township Trustee and Warsaw Community Church at 2 percent each. In 2010 the program was not able to fulfill the following requests in Kosciusko County for assistance, which represents 5 percent of total calls, including 11 calls for utility deposit assistance, five for gas money and four for medical expense assistance. Coy said it is critical that United Way have details to determine gaps in the community and how stakeholders can address those issues. For more information about 2-1-1, visit the regional website at www.myuw211.org
