By Orange County Supervisor Pat Bates
When Orange County residents need help and it’s not a 911 emergency, it can be confounding knowing who to call. That’s where 2-1-1 Orange County comes in.
Dialing three numbers (211) connects callers with staff who are expert in assessing each person’s situation and referring them to the best avenues for help. The organization fields some 70,000 calls a year, and connects callers with assistance from a database of more than 2,000 agencies. Many of the most-referred agencies are within the County of Orange.
The organization has previously been cautious in promoting itself so that the volume of calls they handle doesn’t degrade the quality of the service they’re able to give callers. Newly acquired technology and the merger with another OC nonprofit, OC Partnership, puts them in a better position to serve more callers. Continue reading