5 Things You Might Not Know About 2-1-1

5 Things You Might Not Know About 2-1-1

February 11 is National 2-1-1 Day and United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County is proud to join United Ways across North Carolina and the nation in celebrating 2-1-1, the free, confidential information and referral system that connects callers and web visitors to health and human services 24 hours a day/7 days a week/365 days a year. 

2-1-1 helps people find resources for service needs such as food, housing, utility payment assistance, job training, information about health care providers, and more. NC 2-1-1 is also a part of the NC State Emergency Response Team and the Asheville Call Center serves on a variety of western North Carolina emergency management teams. When activated during a disaster, NC 2-1-1 becomes the public information portal for disaster-related information.  Residents who are looking for help can simply dial 2-1-1 to reach a trained NC 2-1-1 call specialist who can connect them to free and low-cost local health and human services. 

Here are Five Things You Might Not Know About 2-1-1:

1. The Asheville 2-1-1 call center is an AIRS (Alliance of Information and Referral Systems) accredited call center. To be accredited by AIRS is a year-long, in-depth process to determine quality assurance for information and referral services. This is our fourth 5-year accreditation. 
2. On February 11, which is National 2-1-1 Day, NC 2-1-1 was recognized at the United Way of North Carolina Annual Meeting for our part in the response to Hurricane Florence. 
3. In 2019, NC 2-1-1 was recognized by Governor Roy Cooper for disaster work and has been named the Governor’s line to be used during times of disaster. Listen to these kind words he shared last year during a 2-1-1 conference.
4. Also in 2019, Buncombe County declared the month of February NC 2-1-1 month. Read the Buncombe County NC 2-1-1 proclamation. 
5. United Way of North Carolina and NC 2-1-1 have played a key role in the creation of NCCare360, a shared technology platform allowing for a coordinated, community-oriented, person-centered approach for delivering care in North Carolina. Not only does the 2-1-1 resource database serve as the foundation of the new platform, 2-1-1 has also added NCCARE360 Navigators to the call centers. Learn more about this exciting collaborative work.

Join us in celebrating and uplifting this resource supporting our county, state, and nation. Search the database of more than 19,000 resources via nc211.org or give trained specialists a call 24 hours a day/7 days a week by dialing 2-1-1.