Carson City, NV -
February 10, 2017Nevada 2-1-1 will have an Information Table at the Legislature Building on Friday, February 10, from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM with staff available for interviews. Media may also contact Financial Guidance Center Chief Operating Officer Christie O’Melia in Las Vegas for interviews at (702) 364-0344 or via email at
Christie@FinancialGuidanceCenter.org or
Steve George, Outreach Specialist at (775) 230-3302 or at
Steve@FinancialGuidanceCenter.org
Designated National 2-1-1 Day, February 11th
is a day to inform people across the nation about non-emergency health and
human services information and referrals available by contacting 2-1-1. The free, confidential service is available
24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year long. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
designated 2-1-1 as the nonemergency number in 2000, partly as a way to
alleviate the burden on 9-1-1 call centers, enabling operators to focus on life
or death crisis situations. The FCC
further charged each state with developing its own 2-1-1 network.
In the Silver State, Nevada 2-1-1, administered
by the nonprofit Financial Guidance Center, with oversight by the Nevada
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), has a database that includes
information on 762 public and private agencies, 1,934 programs, and 3,059
services. Call Specialists are trained to assist people in navigating the
sometimes confusing maze of finding the right agency for the desired services.
Nevada 2-1-1’s database includes information on local healthcare, housing,
food, utility, transportation, and childcare assistance, among other resources.
Michele Johnson, President and CEO of Financial
Guidance Center, the agency selected by DHHS to administer the statewide Nevada
2-1-1 program reports, “Our role as administer is to, in part, ensure a
comprehensive, current, and relevant database is available for our Call
Specialists to serve Nevadans. With more
than 10,000 incoming telephone calls each month, we work tirelessly to ensure
we have knowledge of the resources that can best support our caller’s needs.”
Nevada 2-1-1 also serves as a disaster response
Call Center during natural or mandated emergencies/disasters when called into
action by the State of Nevada or an individual county.
During the recent flooding that took place in
Washoe County and in other Northern Nevada communities, Nevada 2-1-1 handled more than 1,500
non-emergency calls from people seeking information about sandbag locations,
road and school closures, available shelters for people and animals, and
community-based assistance. “Nevada 2-1-1’s role in responding to the January
flooding in Northern Nevada demonstrated the importance of having a toll free,
24/7 easy to remember number dedicated to quickly answering the concerns of
people in the affected,” said Jennifer White, DHHS 2-1-1 Statewide Coordinator.
In Nevada, individuals across the state can dial
2-1-1, text their zip code to 898211, or visit www.Nevada211.org to find non-emergency health and human
services information.