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IND:DF' IAN KIVhK (UN 1 Y NUNKUN I / QUAN AUhNL;Y KLULI 51 FUK FUNDING residents of Indian River County, including our Sunshine Telephone Reassurance Program, our new Caregiver program, our Help Me Grow (HMG) program, and our MYFLVET program. All of these. programs.accept referrals from individuals who initially requested help on the 211 Helpline, but who can benefit from the advocacy and care coordination that each of these programs offer. Accomplishments 211 has had several accomplishments to highlight within the past year, the most noteworthy of which has been our pandemic response. During this time we have had no lapses in the availability of our services and have remained here to serve all residents of Indian River County in .need, -24/7. Our agency completely altered our system of operations and transitioned to a hybrid -remote system of working in order to preserve the health of our team. We have continued to operate in this manner and continue to closely follow proper CDC. guidelines. In conjunction with this, we have been able to successfully manage the increase in volume of individuals requesting help that we have been receiving. At the start of the pandemic, this volume nearly doubled. Volume has since stabilized, however remains 10-20% higher than the same time last year across our overall service area. This increase has made it possible for 211 to expand_upon our disaster relief services. This includes our Disaster Distress HelpLine, Crisis Text feature, and a new statewide disaster relief project with FEMA Crisis Counseling Project. We have also launched our new Caregiver Program, which will provide additional support to caregivers throughout our service region. Since the start of the COVID719 pandemic we have been unable to conduct our traditionally in-person outreach activities, however that did not stop our agency from continuing to remain present and raise awareness for our critical services in the community. Our Treasure Coast Community Outreach Specialist has continued to conduct 211 informational material drop-offs to local businesses as well as participate in. community events and meetings through the use of virtual platforms. These activities promote awareness for 211 and inform the community about the essential services that we provide during a time when they are needed most. In some ways, we have been able to utilize virtual outreach methods and our social media pages to reach more individuals in our community than ever before. In the 28 - day period following the start of the pandemic our social media engagement dramatically increased; with our posts jumping from a reach of 3,500 individuals to 36.9K. We. also experienced a 307% increase in unique visitors to. our newly -designed website and a 278% increase in page views. Recently, in honor of our 50th Anniversary celebration 211 has launched a social media campaign that partners with community leaders to increase awareness of the services that our organization provides. This campaign has proven to be a success thus far and since its launch .we have experienced a 319% increase in our Facebook reach and a 379% increase in our Instagram interactions. 211's Development team has gotten innovative in order to continue with our annual events in a way that is reflective of the .urrent public health crisis. It is for this reason that this year's 4th annual Lifeline Luncheon was moved to a virtual platform, the theme of which was Humor, Hope, and Healing. This event was a success for being the first of its kind conducted virtually and allowed us to bring together some of our closest partners across our service region. Additionally, 211 quickly responded to the graphic video of a suicide that was circulating on the. app TikTok,,which is popular with children and teens. 211 reached out to the media and utilized our social media pages to warn parents of the potential threat to their children's and their own mental health. By taking this proactive route, there may have been many children and young adults that were spared from seeing this traumatizing video. We were also able to use this as an opportunity to reach individuals that may be battling with suicidal thoughts and remind them that they can always turn to 211 for crisis intervention and suicide prevention. services. Listening to the needs expressed by those who reach out to 211 for help during the pandemic has given our agency a greater understanding of the issues that members of our community are struggling with. This has allowed us to more closely collaborate with other agencies in our service area that provide assistance programs to meet each particular community need. We continue to receive updates from these agencies on our disaster email address, which are shared on our websites designated COVID-19 page and with our requests.for help every single day. 211 is proud of all that we have achieved in the past year, despite the incredible obstacles. It is our goal to continue to be here, 2417, to support the residents of Indian River County in the coming year in their need for information, resources, and lifesaving support. s. rsneny usr any cerurications anaior accreanations obtarrrea by your agency. 211 Palm Beach/Treasure Coast has been accredited to provide crisis intervention and suicide prevention services by the American Association for Suicidology (AAS) since 1996, and were recently re -accredited at the highest 5 year level in 2020. Additionally, our agency is accredited by the Alliance for Information and Referral Services (Al RS) and was recently re -accredited in 2019. AIRS accredits over 100 various agencies within the United States and Canada to provide Information and Referral Services. Furthermore, 211 strives to maintain a high percentage of our Resource Center Specialists who are individually certified to provide Information and Referral services through AIRS. Our Resource Center Specialists are also certified by the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence. Before ever accepting a request for help from an individual in crisis, our Specialists must first undergo a 100+ hour training program which provides them with the skills that they need to -)perate the necessary technology and effectively de-escalate individuals in distress. 143