211 Helpline now available in Clay County

Clay County residents now have access to the 211 Helpline, a 24/7 service that provides access to information and support.

A partnership between the United Way of Vermillion and the Helpline Center, the helpline launched on Feb. 11.

People can call 211 for information on government questions, where to find food or addiction services and more, according to a press release from the Helpline Center.

Kelsey Collier-Wise, executive director of the United Way of Vermillion, said 211 is something the United Way board has talked about for years, but just became financially feasible.

United Way pays 75 cents per person in the county per year to run the system, she said. For Clay County, this amounts to around $10,000-$11,000.

Additional donations to United Way made the launch possible, Collier-Wise added.
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“So you kind of have to have a commitment of that going forward,” she said.

Students are “absolutely” encouraged to utilize the free resource, Collier-Wise said.

“A lot of students know their campus pretty well, but they don’t always know their community pretty well,” she said.

Collier-Wise said 211 will hopefully help address the many needs of Vermillion residents, 37 percent of which are are living in poverty.

“I think that 211 is helpful wherever it is, it’s almost all over the country and in many places it’s statewide because they recognize how important it is,” she said. “For us, when people are in need, they spend a lot of time looking for resources, they might call one person and then be sent to someone else, then be sent to someone else. And it uses up a lot of their time and energy.”

The community’s population turnover rate is about 20 percent each year, Collier-Wise said.

“There’s never a time where you can just say, ‘Well everybody in Vermillion knows where this is, or where that is.’ Because you just always have new people coming in that you have to introduce to your services,” she said.

Every person that answers 211 calls is a certified crisis counselor, Collier-Wise said.

“If people are depressed, they need someone to talk to, they’re in crisis, they can also use the 211 number for that,” she said.