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When residents call the local 211 hotline that connects people with social services, they are most likely to be asking for help with housing assistance, a chronic issue for Orange County, and officials with the hotline say that trend shows there’s a strong willingness to accept help.
“There’s a narrative around people not looking for a home or perhaps waiting for things to just get to a point where they’re out on the street, and that’s just not what we’re seeing in the data,” said Elizabeth Andrade, executive director of 211OC, which is operated by the Orange County United Way. “The data we’re seeing, how people are calling requesting help, how people are eager to stay housed, how they don’t want to enter homelessness … I think it reinforces the need for more housing.”
Orange County United Way, a social services nonprofit, hosted what its leaders called 211 Day in Costa Mesa on Tuesday, Feb. 11, to go over what data collected from 211 calls show about people’s needs. Andrade and others discussed that data and more in front of a crowd of nonprofits and government agencies.
Orange County United Way in July 2023 took over the three-digit 24/7 hotline that connects people with social services.
When people call 211, they are connected with an operator who can listen to their needs and get them connected to a government or nonprofit provider that can help them, ranging from helping find shelter to tax prep to mental health support.
In that first year of data, housing dominated service calls made to 211 OC. About 51% of calls last year were related to housing issues, including getting emergency shelter and searching for affordable housing or rent assistance.