What is 2-1-1 San Diego?
2-1-1 San Diego is a resource and information hub that connects people with community, health and disaster services through a free, 24/7 stigma-free confidential phone service and searchable online database. 2-1-1 serves the entire population of the County.
Every hour of every day, someone in San Diego County searches for services, from substance abuse treatment to care for a child or aging parent, food, housing or financial assistance. With more than 5,000 health and human service programs, finding help can seem insurmountable. 2-1-1 can help.
By dialing 2-1-1, clients are linked to a live highly-trained Client Service Representatives (CSR) who will navigate them through their situations by assessing their needs and then matching them to the best and closest resource in their community. Assistance is confidential and offered in more than 150 languages. 2-1-1’s highly trained CSRs, the majority of whom are Alliance of Information and Referral Systems (AIRS)-certified, provide a wide range of immediate resources to local individuals and families.
In Times of Disaster:
During a disaster, 2-1-1 works with the County of San Diego's Office of Emergency Services to provide public information to the community, rumor control and trend analysis to County officials, report community needs that are not being met, and act as the central communications point for other community agencies and non-governmental organizations.
Online Database of Community, Health and Human Services:
Currently, our website/database holds information for more than 6,000 health and human service programs. Anyone with internet access can search the 2-1-1 database to find community resources.
2-1-1 Beyond San Diego County
2-1-1 San Diego is affiliated with 2-1-1 California and 2-1-1 U.S. 2-1-1 California is committed to making 2-1-1 available to the entire state population. 2-1-1 U.S. is the entity that brings together the rich diversity of the national 2-1-1 movement. 2-1-1 San Diego is an independent organization that participates at will with these two broader organizations whose missions and values are closely aligned.
Though only introduced in 1997, as of March 2011, the 2-1-1 dialing code serves over 250 million Americans (83% of the entire population) covering all or part of 49 states (including 34 states with 90%+ coverage) plus Washington DC and Puerto Rico. The remaining states are all in various stages of planning and implementation. Every few weeks, these coverage numbers increase.
In California, 29 counties have active 2-1-1 dialing service.
Real-Life Stories
"When I lost my job, I couldn’t afford my bills anymore. A friend of mine told me to call 2-1-1 to see if I could find a way to get financial assistance. The person on the phone told me about some energy assistance programs. Then, she asked me if I had any food in the house. I thought, “Why is she asking this? I called about my bills.”
I told her that I didn’t happen to have much at the moment, so she asked me a few more questions about it and said that I qualified for short-term emergency food program. Wow. I didn’t have to spend those last few dollars I had in my pocket for the month on food. I could catch the bus enough to get myself to interviews I was able to line up. I didn’t realize that I could get help with food. Now, I have some great prospects lined up for possible work. Thank you, 2-1-1."
