2009 2-1-1 Bluegrass Report Card
All across the Bluegrass, help is only three digits away.
United Way 2-1-1 Instead of sorting through hundreds of nonprofit and government phone numbers, thousands of Central Kentuckians are now able to find the help they need with one easy-to-remember phone number. After dialing 2-1-1, callers are quickly connected to specialists certified by the Alliance of Information and Referral Services. These specialists are able to provide a broad range of information about health and human services such as food, rental assistance, child care, after-school programs, medical care, substance abuse treatment, protection from domestic violence and disaster relief.
IN 2009, UNITED WAY 2-1-1 HELPED
20,311 CALLERS.
Working Towards Financial Stability As many as one-third of working Americans do not earn enough money to meet today’s basic needs, inhibiting them from saving for the future.
for each person that qualifies. United Way is working to get this credit to more families.
Last year, United Way 2-1-1 processed more than One way that United Way is helping families achieve 2,000 inquiries and made over 1,500 appointments. Participating Central Kentucky households received a financial stability is by connecting them with opportunities such as free tax preparation services and total of $975,565 in EITC returns and a total of $2,997,916 in all tax returns through free tax the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). preparation services. When money is claimed by families in the Bluegrass, it is spent here and goes Every year Kentuckians miss out on tax credits like back into the local economy. the EITC, which was created to support working families. Tax credits like this are overlooked by Interested in having your own taxes prepared for free? thousands of families because people either don’t Want to learn more about United Way’s work around know they exist or don’t know they are eligible. The IRS estimates that as many as 25% of eligible workers financial stability? Simply dial 2-1-1. are missing out on the EITC alone, worth up to $5,600
2009 Highlights Full Implementation To deliver the highest quality of service to Central Kentuckians, United Way 2-1-1 recently completed regional implementation. United Way 2-1-1 now serves nine counties including Anderson, Bourbon, Clark, Fayette, Jessamine, Madison, Montgomery, Scott and Woodford counties.
United Way 2-1-1 also helped Central Kentuckians recover from the storm, connecting people with volunteers for limb and brush clearing.
AmeriCorps After United Way 2-1-1 noticed an increase in the number of calls related to housing, United Way of the Bluegrass partnered with the Homeless and Housing Coalition of When Disaster Strikes During the January 2009 ice storm, Kentucky to receive an AmeriCorps United Way 2-1-1 coordinated with member. social services in the community. United Way 2-1-1 offered disaster The AmeriCorps member focuses relief by connecting people with the on housing resources available to those in the United Way 2-1-1 resources they needed. service area and helps people Staff at 2-1-1 connected more than navigate the various barriers to housing. 400 people with shelters, emergency operations centers, food The first AmeriCorps member pantries, utility information and began their year of service in other resources. September of 2008 and answered 3,000 phone calls from September
through August of 2009. United Way 2-1-1 now has a new AmeriCorps member who will be serving through August of 2010.
Outstanding Service United Way 2-1-1 continued to provide exceptional service, maintaining high satisfaction statistics among callers. Not only was the average on-hold wait time only 46 seconds for the year, 95% of callers said their experience was excellent or good. Additionally, 95% of callers said that they would call again.
2009 Top Caller Needs Top 10 Caller Needs Gas Bill Assistance 4% Water Bill Assistance Community Shelter 4% 4% School Based Integrated Tax Assistance Services 20% 4% Housing Counseling Furniture 5% Housing Payment 6% Assistance 18% Electric Bill Assistance Food Pantries 17% 18%
Serving Central Kentucky United Way of the Bluegrass serves Anderson, Bourbon, Clark, Fayette, Jessamine, Madison, Montgomery, Scott and Woodford counties. United Way 2-1-1 receives calls from each of these counties and is able to direct callers to the nearest health and human services. In 2009, the breakdown of calls answered per county was as follows: Anderson County
71
Bourbon County Clark County Fayette County Jessamine County
Madison County
654
137
Montgomery County
362
342
Scott County
562
Woodford County
177
14,758 669
United Way 2-1-1 is committed to meeting every need and will continue to strive towards improving health, education and income at every possible opportunity.
United Way of the Bluegrass 2480 Fortune Drive Suite #250 Lexington, Kentucky 40509 www.uwbg.org