Those Americans who have been impacted by Hurricanes Irma and Harvey are encouraged to contact your local 2-1-1 for help and referrals in your local community. The hurricane survivors who live in the Tampa Bay area should know that 2-1-1 stands ready to help. They are available 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, via telephone or text to connect with a trained specialist who can provide information on disaster recovery services.
Reaching 2-1-1 is easy. You can dial 2-1-1 to reach a 2-1-1 specialist on your telephone or you can text your zip code to 898211 and a 2-1-1 specialist will have a text conversation with you. 2-1-1 specialist can provide information and help in accessing the following disaster recovery related services within the Tampa Bay area:
*Emotional support
*Disaster recovery financial assistance programs
*Emergency food assistance
*Cooling station locations
*Legal assistance
*Health clinic information
*Medical equipment support
*volunteer and donation opportunities at local charities needing support
*Other non-life threatening emergency information
“Many seniors, families and individuals in our community have been negatively impacted emotionally, financially, and/or physically due to Hurricane Irma. 2-1-1 is here for everyone no matter the extent of each unique situation. Please note that our call volume is higher than normal so we encourage everyone who needs help with disaster recovery information to first reach out to 2-1-1 via text on their mobile devices, or dial 2-1-1 using your telephone,” said Micki Thompson, President/CEO of 2-1-1.
2-1-1 also connects callers to information about critical health and human services available in their community such as: Locating a food pantry, child care, recreation programs, and volunteer and donation opportunities. 2-1-1 also lists health and nutrition programs, such as community fitness activities, classes on healthy eating, smoking cessation and free health screenings. 2-1-1 is a free confidential number available 24-hours per day, 7-days a week in 150 languages.
If you need help with referrals or information on non-profit organizations, please call or send e-mail requests to: media@211tampabay.org. Address is 5500 Rio Vista Road, suite 5500, Clearwater, Florida 33760. Telephone: 727-888-5211.
Website: www.211tampabay.org
We are people helping other people.