History of 2-1-1 Humboldt

The Humboldt Community Switchboard has over 30 years of history, growing and
changing over that time to meet Humboldt County’s information and referral needs in
Human services. The Switchboard was conceived in the early 1990’s, growing from the
Humboldt Juvenile Justice Commission’s work looking at ways to prevent juvenile
Delinquency by better supporting families and providing an easy way for them to access
Resources.
In 1992 under the fiscal sponsorship of the Humboldt Child Care Council (now known as
Changing Tides Family Services), the Switchboard was established as a cooperative
Effort among agencies that comprised an advisory committee of 45 to 50 members.
Consultants were hired to move the project forward and create the initial database of
Community services. In 1996, the first staff position of Switchboard Coordinator was
Created and filled, under the continued fiscal sponsorship of the Humboldt Child Care Council. The lack of sustainable funding for operational support limited Switchboard operations until 1998 when a grant of approximately $200,000 from the Blue Cross Healthcare Foundation (now the California Endowment Grant) was received to operate the Switchboard within the North Coast Clinics Network, which then became the new home for the Switchboard. A training and operations manual was developed and implemented. By 1999 a Web-based information and referral database was created that allowed local resource providers to update their own listings. The database has been used by Switchboard call center specialists since 2001 for making referrals and logging calls and is publicly available for searching on the Switchboard’s website now under 211humboldt.org
Seeking a stable place to reside, in 2005 the Switchboard became a program of United
Way of Humboldt. In 2009, United Way of Humboldt merged with United Way of the
Wine Country (UWWC), and became the UWWC Regional Office, serving Humboldt
And Del Norte counties; they continued to manage the Humboldt Community
Switchboard from the UWWC regional office in Eureka.
In 2009, a volunteer 2-1-1 advisory committee involving all sectors of the Humboldt
County community began meeting regularly to discuss and plan the transition of the
Switchboard to a 2-1-1 call center service provider. In addition to maintaining its
Information and referral database listing more than 1,600 local Humboldt County
Resources in , the Switchboard established collaborative relationships with many local
Agencies to provide specialized pre-screening and referrals for housing, food assistance (CalFresh), tax assistance through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program, and assistance for families and young children. The UWWC Regional Office Has taken on a leadership role with the county’s VOAD group (Volunteer Organizations Assisting in Disaster), working closely with the Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services and the Humboldt Chapter of the American Red Cross. Program (EFSP) federal grant, which provides supplemental grant dollars from United Way.
In 2014, United Way handed over fiscal sponsorship of 2-1-1 Humboldt to Humboldt Community Access and Resource Center “HCAR”. Jeanette Hurst, a volunteer at the Switchboard from 2006 to 2007, a social work intern from HSU at the Switchboard from 2007-2009 and the coordinator of 211 from 2009-2015. Jeanette applied for nonprofit status, put together a Board and officially became a nonprofit in 2015. 211 has expanded its work to include an Emergency Food Pantry open evenings and weekends, clothing vouchers to Lots for Tots, a weekly Postpartum Support Group, Coordinated Entry for the Humboldt Continuum of Care, we do the REACH program to help with PG&E bills, we ordering Birth Certificates, filling out housing application, Social Security forms, CalFresh application and recertification forms, we are just completing our application to be a California vs Hate call center, we assist the Housing Authority with Emergency Housing Voucher application and housing searches, we supply emergency power related items, generators and batteries for those who have power run equipment for their health, and cooling wallets and coolers to keep medication cool. We have done the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program since 2009. In November 2022 we purchase 300 ponchos and 300 winter caps and gave them to Mission, Free Meal, AHHA showers. We also applied and got an order of 5000 Bombay socks in November 2022 that we handed out to multiple agencies throughout Humboldt County. 2022 we are looking into becoming a Crisis Hot Line for those contemplating suicide or needing mental health assistance. We have made sure to hired staff with at least a Bachelors in Social Work, have two completing their masters and one going after her LCSW. We also get anywhere from 2 to 4 Social Work interns from HSU each semester. We see needs in the community that have no programs and we try and cover that need or work with other organization more inclined to deal with a specific need.