It’s a Wednesday evening, and 211 Contact Specialist Shanaz has been answering calls nonstop for several hours. She takes the next caller: a tearful mom with a housing issue. “My landlord just changed the rent,” she says. “It was $1,400, but now he wants $2,000! I don’t know what to do.”
In the background, a child is screaming. Shanaz speaks kindly, asking questions she learned in her 211 training – questions that will help her determine the kinds of services she can offer.
She listens, taking in the details: a son with special needs who requires an in-home aid; a Section 8 rep who has told Mom to find a smaller apartment with fewer bedrooms. “Where will the aid sleep? Where will my son and I sleep? What am I going to do?”
Shanaz finds information on low-income housing, a program to help with moving costs, a lead to help with a security deposit for the next apartment, a source of possible support to help afford the live-in aid.
The caller isn’t crying anymore. “Thank you so much,” she says. “Thank you for helping me.”
Shanaz knows the next steps won’t be easy: there’s no guarantee that Mom will be able to find the housing she needs. But her caller has information now, resources that may help to move forward and help her family to thrive. 211 received nearly 2 million inquiries in FY24 – and that number is on the rise.