Each week we will post a summary of interesting and representative 211 calls. This week, we have a connection from New Foundland.

Newfoundland and Labrador:

Request for Advocacy and Community Meals

When people are upset, 211 Service Navigators can help them prioritize their needs, and make plans. Sometimes just talking to a Service Navigator can make a caller calm enough to be able to focus and decide what is most important in a hard situation.
A 211 caller was in the process of moving to second stage, non-profit housing. Unfortunately, she had been given the wrong key. She could not reach the worker to get the correct key, and at the time of her call to 211, she badly needed food because most of her money had been spent on moving.
The caller had to go back to the original shelter and wait for the staff member to get back to her. The caller was crying and did not know what to do. She told the Service Navigator: “I’m not sure what to do! I have no money and I have now missed a day of work too!”
The 211 Service Navigator asked permission to advocate, and the caller agreed. The Service Navigator tried to connect to the non-profit housing number, but unfortunately, only got a voicemail herself. The Service Navigator and the caller discussed what the caller wanted to do next. She decided that she could continue to contact the worker on her own about the key; what she really needed right then was food. The caller felt that meals would work better than a food bank because she could not prepare food at the moment. The Service Navigator found two meals nearby that the caller could utilize, and let her know how to access a food bank when she was ready. The caller felt that she
could call 211 again if necessary, and the Service Navigator confirmed that 211 was open 24 hours if she needed help.