Steve Harmic
Feb 3, 2023
211 is the free, confidential, 24/7/365 service that connects Pennsylvanians with all the health and human services in their area that are available to help.
CLEARFIELD, Pa. – On February 11, PA 211 Day, Mature Resources Area Agency on Aging (MRAAA), Clearfield Area United Way, and PA 211 joins United Way of Pennsylvania and the PA 211 network to celebrate the important role that 211 plays to provide connections to help with everything from housing to higher utility costs as households continue to feel the effects of inflation. United Way and PA 211 are also unveiling a new chat translation tool at www.pa211.org which allows customers to interact with 211 in 75 different languages.
211 is the free, confidential, 24/7/365 service that connects Pennsylvanians with all the health and human services in their area that are available to help. PA 211 also offers individuals the ability to search for assistance or chat with a resource navigator online at www.pa211.org.
“PA 211 strives to be the first, most essential resource to all Pennsylvanians who need help. If you aren’t sure where to start, begin with 211,” said MRAAA CEO Kathy Gillespie.
In 2022, PA 211 answered 254,796 unique calls, with more than 325,000 services requested by callers. In addition, 19,247 Pennsylvanians sought help via text, and 3176 utilized the newly launched web chat.
PA 211 also offers individuals the ability to search for assistance at www.pa211.org. Nearly 929,000 web sessions on pa211.org accessed the self-serve community resource search function to find help in their community. Across all communication channels, PA 211 served well over one million Pennsylvanians, exceeding the record previously set from March 2020 through December 2021.
“The number of Pennsylvanians reaching out to PA 211 continues to increase in all contact channels, and the highest rate of growth is happening in usage of www.pa211.org. To better serve diverse populations in our state, PA 211 is launching a chat translation tool which will support 75 languages, allowing more of our consumers to interact with PA 211 in their preferred language,” Gillespie said.
To chat online with a 211 resource navigator, visit www.pa211.org, start a search for resources, and select the option to chat.
“Some of the needs in our area that we have as top priorities are food availability and housing for our seniors,” Gillespie revealed. “Our Meals on Wheels and More program regularly serves 800 people in Clearfield County each day, and we offer affordable housing through the Village of Hope, the Dimeling Senior Residence, and shared housing options. While we feel our reach is already significant, we’re sure there are more individuals in need who could connect with our services through PA 211.”
PA 211 continues to offer the best real-time data on needs of individuals in the Commonwealth. PA 211 Counts (https://pa.211counts.org) is a dashboard to understand these needs in counties, zip codes, legislative districts, and regions across the state.