Friday, September 03, 2004

First Call for Help

As a college teacher at a commuter campus, I’ve found that students sometimes drop out of school during the year for all kinds of reasons.  The conversations often begin with an apology, for asking to withdraw from the class.  Then, it’s not that they can’t do the work, it’s just that they can’t find reliable childcare for the two-year old, or they’ve got to take care of grandpa while their mom goes in for surgery, or there’s a problem with their landlord and they have to relocate the family.  Over the years, I’ve built up a messy file of flyers and phone numbers from places I’ve heard about that might be useful in these conversations. But I’ve often wished there was just one phone number I could pass on, that would help these folks find the resources they needed.

So I was excited to learn about an initiative now underway in St Joe County.  My friend Dave invited me to drop by the Jefferson Street office of United Way last week to find out more.

Apparently, the Community Resource Center in downtown South Bend used to be a central agency that worked as a hub to collect and distribute information about the social service agencies and programs in St Joe County and the surrounding communities.  But it closed a couple of years ago.

Lots of community groups do provide information about certain kinds of local resources.  So, for example, anyone can call 4C’s, a not-for-profit agency serving St Joe, Elkhart and neighbouring counties, for help in finding child care.  But they can’t tell you about Eldercare services.  Our public librarians can help you work your way through the yellow pages and the Internet, and a local church or synagogue office might also have a list of useful contacts.  But sometimes the biggest challenge is knowing where to start.

Seeing this need, Step Ahead brought together representatives of over 30 of these groups to form an advisory board for a new telephone helpline in St Joe County.  It’s called First Call for Help, at 239-CALL.  The goal is to provide a one-stop, free, confidential information and referral service, directing callers to the closest agencies that can meet their needs.

The staff of three there are wonderfully enthusiastic about their work.  In January, they began the Sisyphean labour of verifying and entering information into the database about the changing array of resources out there, from Food Banks to emergency housing for pregnant teens.  Sitting in her tiny cubicle by the phone, one staff member waved towards her computer and boasted, a little wearily, that they have now entered up-to-date information on over 1300 local programmes.  Even if you aren’t quite sure what the proper name is for the services you’re looking for, the staff can help.  She explained that they’re building a Thesaurus into the data-base, so if she takes a call from a grandmother who says her grandson is “crippled” the computer will pull up relevant information, via an internal link to the search term “disabled.”

I found out that the First Call for Help line should bring other benefits.  Of course, the main goal is to help people find the services they need.  But this will also take the pressure off other service providers to do general information and referral work.  As more people learn to call First Call for Help for assistance with issues like, “My gas is about to be cut off!” the 9-11 emergency phone-lines will be freed up for life-threatening emergencies.  Red E. Fox, the lovable educator who works the kindergarten circuit teaching children when and when not to call 9-11 will be able to retire his fake fur suit.

First Call for Help should be a wonderful community resource.  It’s a great thing that so many agencies and individuals are working together to make this project a success.

And who knows, from my perspective, perhaps it might just help keep one more student in school.

Broadcast by Louise Collins on September 03, 2004
Community • Permalink • Printer Friendly
Google
WWW Michiana Chronicles