Perspective 211 summarizes demographic data and reflects the problems and/or needs of those individuals and families who have contacted 211 Palm Beach/Treasure Coast for the period of July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009.

The goal of this report is to spotlight the daily issues people face in our community and to subsequently bring these issues to the attention of the health and human services network and the community leaders of Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie Counties.

211 Palm Beach/Treasure Coast is essentially the “gateway” to health, human service and governmental organizations. However, Dialing 2-1-1 not only connects distressed people in our community to the organization or service they need, but also connects them to our hotline providing immediate guidance and support any time of day or night.

During the 12 month period highlighted, 211 responded to 167,283 calls from individuals and families providing crisis intervention, information, assessment and referral to available community services.  Throughout 211’s service area 193,516 problems/needs were identified, with a significant increase in request related to basic needs and financial assistance. For more details including county maps & call volume distribution charts view our report online at http://stats.211pbtc.org/perspective.pdf. 

We believe that service providers and community leaders will find this report informative and useful. It is 211’s hope that Perspective 211 will provide data to substantiate efforts to advocate at the local, state and national level for health and human services needs particularly in the challenging times that populations in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast are now facing.