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Help Hotline's 211 online database helps those in need
By Sean Barron
YOUNGSTOWN
Have you received a shut-off notice for your utilities, know of a veteran who needs assistance or are homeless and need shelter, yet are at your wits’ end because you don’t know where to turn for help?
The often daunting process of getting linked to helpful resources has been greatly simplified and reduced to a few button clicks, however, thanks to an updated online database.
“Help Hotline Crisis Center is continuing to grow and move in the direction it needs to go,” said Cathy R. Grizinski, the agency’s associate director, referring to a 211 online database launch she demonstrated during a one-hour program Tuesday at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 343 Wick Ave., near downtown.
An estimated 200 law-enforcement personnel, service providers, school guidance counselors, mental-health experts and others attended the session, which was to educate professionals and the general public about how to navigate the information-and-referral online network.
The process should make it easier and quicker for people to find agencies, organizations and resources for their specific needs, she noted.
Grizinski took the audience through a five-step process for accessing such information. The first step is to log onto Help Hotline’s website, www.helphotline.org, then go to the “Click here to search the 211 database” and “Search 211 database” buttons, which will lead users to several searches they can conduct to find what they need, Grizinski continued.
The database also gives consumers the opportunity to click on an agency’s name to get a more-detailed look at its offerings, including contact information. In addition, the website has the capability to allow people, after creating usernames and passwords, to develop their own accounts and service groups, Grizinski noted.
“It’s really quite simple. It’s an excellent way to keep track of your own resources,” she said.
The 45-year-old Help Hotline agency receives more than 180,000 contacts each year, many of which include access to resources via the 211 line, noted Vince Brancaccio, the agency’s chief executive officer.
“In short, we help the Valley,” Brancaccio said, adding that Help Hotline will soon open a peer resource and recovery center in East Liverpool.
The CEO also thanked the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley as well as mental-health boards in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties for providing funding for the effort.
The simplified online database also is important because it should decrease the number of layers many people otherwise would probably have to go through to be connected to needed resources, Mayor John A. McNally said.
Making additional remarks was Dr. Joseph L. Mosca, dean of Youngstown State University’s Bitonte College of Health & Human Services and a Help Hotline board member.
Agencies and organizations in the 211 system that move or undergo any other status change are encouraged to contact Michelle Gennaro, Help Hotline’s 211 coordinator, at 330-747-2696, which also is one of the agency’s main numbers.