Building Neighborhoods and Communities

Goal: Create a positive, healthy and caring environment for people in the places they call home. For United Way, that means increasing opportunities for those facing discrimination and intolerance. It means reaching out to the socially isolated with quality childcare, academic support, health, fitness, recreational programming and drug prevention. And, for example, it means getting people to the help they need through United Way's 2-1-1 helpline:

Problem: People facing challenges often don't get the help they need - because they can't find it.

Solution: 2-1-1 — a free, confidential, multilingual information and referral helpline available 24/7/365 — was established by our United Way, in collaboration with the United Ways in Dutchess, Orange, Rockland, Sullivan and Ulster Counties; state and county governments as well as businesses and foundations.

Trained call specialists, with access to a database of over 14,000 health and human services in the region, have helped callers with many different problems — from the need for food and shelter to help dealing with area flooding.

Results: In its first nine months, 2-1-1 has assisted more than 12,000 callers to find help - and the number of callers is growing every day.

Challenge: 2-1-1 is off to a great start. However, as more people learn about this resource in a region of over 2 million, it is anticipated that at least 50,000 people will call this coming year. By 2009, this number is expected to reach 200,000 a year. The 2-1-1 operation must grow dramatically to ensure that every caller gets help.

You can help.