United Ways of Vermont

See schedule ounited Ways of Vermont houses the Vermont 2-1-1 program, a statewide information and referral program officially launched in 2005. Vermont 2-1-1 has responded to over half a million contacts, connecting callers with hundreds of thousands of referrals since its inception. The top referrals given to vermonters included access to emergency housing for the homeless, help meeting basic needs, access to free tax preparation sites, and referrals to various agencies that provide help with financial, health and education assistance. In 2020, the program celebrated a milestone of 15 years of providing high quality community information and referral. This collaborative program for streamlined, confidential, comprehensive community information and referral is supported by all United Ways in Vermont and granite United way in new hampshire. Vermont 2-1-1 maintains a robust statewide database of health and human service resources. The information includes detailed descriptions of thousands of programs and services available to vermonters.the 2-1-1 community resource directory is available to the public on-line at www.vermont211.org. In fiscal year 2021, there were 44,682 site visits and 30,419 searches in the on-line community resource directory. Our partnerships run deep. Vermont 2-1-1 partners with state, local, community, and faith based organizations to provide education and training in the areas of information and referral and suicide prevention. Vermont 2-1-1 provides an easy to remember phone number to call to get vetted information in times of disaster, whether it be local, regional or statewide. Data collected on every call is provided to the public, partners, funders, and stakeholders and is available on-line at www.vermont211.org. The program is accredited by the alliance of information and referral services.the program passed its airs re-accredited in 2021. In 2015, United Ways of Vermont started the "help me grow Vermont" (hmg-vt) initiative in collaboration with the Vermont department of health, maternal and child health. Help me grow Vermont provides a central access point (2-1-1) for existing resources and gathers new information about community resources from our community partners, such as building bright futures regional councils. Child development specialists follow up with the family to ensure they are able to connect to resources. Hmg-vt child development specialists are located in the Vermont 2-1-1 "contact center and can answer parent and caregiver questions about children's behavior and development, identify children that are at risk and connect them to resources and services in their community. Help me grow Vermont assists any person connected to or caring for a child from birth to age eight who lives in Vermont. This may include both providers (i.e. Health and mental health providers, child care providers, educators, family support workers, etc.) And caregivers. In addition to providing support to families with concerns about their child's learning, behavior, or development, child development specialists can assist connecting caregivers and families to agencies for concrete resource needs they may have.