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River County, including our Sunshine Telephone Reassurance Program, our new Caregiver program, our Help Me <br />Grow (HMG) program, and our MYFLVET program. All of these programs accept referrals from individuals who initially <br />requested help on the 211 Helpline, but who can benefit from the advocacy and care coordination that each of these <br />programs offer.During the past year 211 Palm Beach/Treasure Coast has continued to make progress towards our ' <br />agency -wide goals and has enjoyed several noteworthy achievements. 211 is honored to be viewed as a crucial <br />disaster resource, and we are here to support the community through every disaster that we face. Our agency has <br />continued to operate in a hybrid -remote system of operations since the start of the pandemic and we have never <br />ceased to be able to provide our services to the residents of Martin County on a 24-hour basis. Volume has ebbed and <br />flowed throughout the pandemic, however it has since stabilized and now remains steady. We are proud that our <br />Resource Center has been able to effectively handle the shifting volume of requests for help received from individuals <br />in crisis, and we have never left a member of our community without the support that they desperately need. <br />Throughout the past year, our agency has continued to rely heavily on the use of virtual platforms to conduct outreach <br />and our engagement on social media remains elevated as compared to our pre -pandemic baseline. The lingering <br />impacts of the pandemic continue to present obstacles for those we serve, and many individuals have had their existing <br />crisis situations exacerbated due to this public health crisis. During the pandemic our Resource Center has been <br />receiving and assisting with requests for help from individuals who are searching for testing site and vaccination <br />information, struggling with financial hardships, and battling with their mental health, some even to the point of having <br />thoughts of suicide. For each of these individuals, 211 has been available, every single day, 24 -hours a day, providing <br />them with the emergency resources and support that they need to get through this disaster. <br />Other accomplishments within the past year include our agency's implementation of a cloud -based phone system. <br />While this switch was a major endeavor for our agency, it was necessary for our system to be able to support an <br />elevated call volume and to reduce technology related glitches within our old system that threatened the continuity of <br />our operations. In addition, this system will better facilitate the transition to hybrid -remote work should it ever be <br />necessary again due to a disaster, such as a pandemic. 211 is also pleased that we have expanded upon the breadth <br />of our services by taking on additional contracts with local partners, this includes a targeted violence prevention <br />program with local law enforcement and a first responder crisis counseling project. We are looking forward to launching <br />these projects in the coming months and further supporting those who we serve, particularly those who are most at -risk. <br />Our agency has also recently been awarded nationally competitive multi-year contracts through the National Suicide <br />Prevention Lifeline to expand upon our Lifeline chat services and provide moderation to their social media pages, <br />allowing us to maximize our reach and assist even more individuals who are having thoughts of suicide. Additionally, <br />one of our agency's Sunshine Telephone Reassurance volunteers was recognized at the Nonprofits First Hats Off ' <br />Awards, being awarded the honor of "Volunteer of the Year". We are proud of our volunteers and all that they do to <br />support our mission on a daily basis. <br />In addition, 211 has recently taken steps towards launching a capital campaign in order to construct a new facility to <br />house the future of our agency's operations. Our current facility is outdated and though efforts have been made to <br />maintain its integrity, it has begun to deteriorate. It was not designed to withstand extreme weather, and due to its <br />structure, cannot be hardened. It may not hold through another significant storm. Damage to the facility would <br />jeopardize 211's continuity of operations, which puts lives at risk. Providing our services to people in crisis is our <br />priority, but our building has been falling down in disrepair around us, creating many challenges including the safety of <br />staff, time and money spent on temporary fixes, and the ability to work uninterrupted. As we have grown, the need for <br />more space has become an issue, one that requires immediate attention. A larger facility would allow us to better <br />manage the recent expansion as well as increase our capacity for the future. We would not want a lack of available <br />infrastructure to be a limiting factor in our ability to help meet community needs. By <br />undertaking a capital campaign, we are able to take the goal of constructing a new building for the future of 211's <br />operations one step closer to becoming a reality. <br />s. bnerny ust any cernrncations anaior accreaitauons oatarnea ay your agency. <br />211 Palm Beach/Treasure Coast has been accredited to provide crisis intervention and suicide prevention services by <br />the American Association for Suicidology (MS) since 1996, and were recently re -accredited at the highest 5 year level <br />in 2020. Additionally, our agency is accredited by the Alliance for Information and Referral Services (AIRS) and was <br />recently re -accredited in 2019. AIRS accredits over 100 various agencies within the United States and Canada to <br />provide Information and Referral Services. <br />Furthermore, 211 strives to maintain a high percentage of our Resource Center Specialists who are individually certified <br />to provide Information and Referral services through AIRS. Our Resource Center Specialists are also certified by the <br />Florida Council Against Sexual Violence. Before ever accepting a request for help from an individual in crisis, our <br />Specialists must first undergo a 100+ hour training program which provides them with the skills that they need to <br />operate the necessary technology and effectively deescalate individuals in distress. <br />` E11 <br />