United Way’s 2-1-1 helps hundreds even thousand of people a month

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – The United Way’s 2-1-1 number helps hundreds, if not thousands of people each month.

In July, there was nearly 750 phone calls to 2-1-1 in Morgan, Perry, and Muskingum Counties. Community Impact Director, Becky Clawson said the majority of the calls are for food, but people also call for crises, utility bills, taxes and more.

“When you call the 2-1-1 line or even if you text the 2-1-1 line, Someone on the other end of that phone or text is certified for crisis intervention and they will be trained to handle those situations. So, if you are lonely, depressed, anxious or suicidal, I would recommend that 2-1-1 is the number that you would call anytime of the day or night,” said Clawson.

Clawson said the responders to the phone call or text are always more than happy to help out.

“You can also text your zip code to (898) 2-1-1 and what that does, is it initiates a response from our text system and asks what you need. There is a person on the other line responding to the request that you make. We also added an opioid text response. So, if you text the word opioid to (898) -211 you can get information about anything related to substance abuse,” Clawson added.

Clawson says if you want to keep up with the United Way, follow their social medias or visit them at www.unitedwayofmpm.org/