United Way of Lancaster County's annual 211 Day: Capacity Building Summit, held on Feb. 11, at the Doubletree Resort, was an informative and interactive day. The day helped attendees gain greater insight into the operations of 211 PA East, allowed for networking and information sharing among local organizations, and invited them to participate in workshops led by local Lancaster County nonprofit professionals.
The summit celebrated PA 211 East’s role in the Lancaster County community by raising awareness of the program’s impact and the resources it provides for those in need. PA 211 East is a part of nationwide service that connects individuals to essential resources like housing, healthcare, childcare, food assistance. PA 211 East covers 7 counties in the commonwealth including; Berks, Carbon, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Northampton, and Schuylkill.
The event included a presentation on PA 211/PA 211 East from Vice President of PA 211, Emily Aubele, a panel discussion from 211 PA East resource navigators, 15 workshop sessions, each attendee could pick 3 throughout the day, and a speech and fireside chat from keynote speaker Rep. Ismail Smith-Wade-El of PA State House District 49.
Aubele gave an illuminating presentation about the initiatives and practices of PA 211 and PA 211 East. 2024, was a record-breaking year for calls to PA 211 East, as the organization saw a 5% increase. The top issue was housing. Throughout the state, people could access more utility assistance because there were multiple opportunities from different utility assistance programs. Aubele detailed a story about a person having their $10,000 electric bill forgiven through their work with PA 211.
PA 211 receives $750,000 of state funding, that helps fund efforts on the statewide level and individual contact centers. 211 across the state is about a $6 million dollar operation, the rest of the funding comes from different organizations, local government, several United Ways, and other special projects.
PA 211 East has numerous special projects such as coordinated entry for multiple counties and closed-loop resource navigation with UPMC for Medicaid recipients. This program allows healthcare providers to access records of community resources utilized by individuals. The emergency rental assistance program, ERAP, has pushed the organization’s technologies to its capacity, as it creates an efficient closed-loop experience, tracking individuals' access to funds from initial contact to receipt of service.
The PA 211 East database is powered by a dedicated team that provides up to date information on resources in Lancaster County. PA 211 East takes pride that the database is not run by an artificial Intelligence system and has a robust application program interface system that allows for the customized sharing of information.
PowerPoint Slides:
211 Presentation Slides (Source: United Way of Lancaster County)
