Phone line can be a lifeline to those in need

Johanna Cuadra had never met the woman on the other end of the phone, but there was something about the female caller's story that touched her.

An operator for 211 Ventura County, Cuadra frequently talks to people who are down and out. But this call was different.

The single mother had only asked for Christmas toys for her children, but as the two women talked, Cuadra learned the caller had recently lost her job and was feeling depressed.

Pleased she could offer hope, Cuadra told the female caller about a job opening and toy drive.

"These are the calls that make me want to come to work every day . . . when they feel they have no one else" to turn to, Cuadra told city, county and elected officials gathered last week to celebrate the third anniversary of 211 Ventura County at the Topa Tower Club in Oxnard.

The 211 help line is a free, 24hour information service provided by Camarillobased nonprofit Interface Children Family Services in partnership with United Way of Ventura County and First 5 Ventura County.

Available to residents of any income level, the service connects people in need with support services such as child care, employment assistance, emergency food and shelter, child and adult protective services, legal assistance, and help for seniors and the disabled.

Seventy-five percent of the country has access to the 211 service. The same is true for California residents, with the service available in 18 counties. Officials want the entire state covered by 2010.

The three-year-old Ventura County service is thriving but faces the constant challenge of securing sustainable funding, since it's the only one in the state that doesn't receive local government backing, said Erik Sternad, executive director of Interface.

"People are starting to depend on it, as well they should, and we need to make sure it doesn't go away," Sternad said.

Sternad said his group has not approached the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to help find funding for the countywide service.

The Board of Supervisors did give its moral backing to the service last week, declaring it 211 Week.

The county service, which fields about 1,500 calls a month, has relied on corporate donations to keep the phone lines up and running.

A representative of IndyMac Bank presented 211 officials with a $5,700 contribution at last week's evening event, and Kaiser Permanente earlier in the day gave $400,000 to the statewide partnership.

United Way's Chief Executive Officer David M. Smith said the Kaiser donation is important financially but also sets the example for other corporations to follow.

Important to entire county

The Ventura County 211 call center receives approximately 18,000 calls a year from throughout the county.

Smith said most of those calls come from Oxnard, Ventura and Simi Valley, but the service is also used by those living in the Conejo Valley, considered one of the most affluent regions in Southern California.

"Yes, Thousand Oaks; yes, Westlake Village; yes, Ventura County- the need is very real and very critical," Smith said.

The service has even taken some of the load off the 911 system, a 211 official said.

During the October wildfires, county residents in need of emergency shelter, food and other basic services used 211 extensively.

But most of the time call center operators don't know what the person on the other end needs.

Recent calls to 211 Ventura County include a man looking for help because he thinks his family is trying to poison him, a homeless and unemployed family of three, and two elderly sisters whose home has flooded and they have no insurance and nowhere to go.

For them, help was a phone call away.

"The beauty of 211 is it's so simple and easy," Sternad said.