A 2-1-1 operator for a day

by Erik Sternad
Executive Director, Interface Children & Family Services

Ventura County Together (VCT) executed a fundraising campaign last week to help support the 40 organizations in our county serving the hungry, the homeless, those without health coverage and in need of information and referrals. I’ve been a member of VCT for the last two years and in order to do my part in raising awareness and raising money, I decided to make this campaign personal… I spent last week trying to experience some of the many challenges that people in our community go through. I went hungry for a day, I slept in my car, and then I spent a few hours answering calls in our 2-1-1 information and referral call center. These were symbolic gestures meant to bring awareness to the need for basic services in our community, but I also learned a lot along the way.

I’ve wanted to answer information and referral calls at 2-1-1 since I first came to Interface, and I was delighted to handle 9 calls - mostly by myself on Friday afternoon! The gracious 2-1-1 staff helped me navigate the database screens, while I did the talking on the phone. They only put me on Ventura County calls (not the other seven counties we serve with 2-1-1…whew!). I gave referrals for domestic violence shelters, bilingual counseling, rental assistance and animal control. I remember handling these kinds of information and referral calls when I was working my way through graduate school, but it’s been a long time.

The best call that I received on Friday was from a single mother with a young child and two elderly parents. This young woman was the only breadwinner for this family, and she was facing a foreclosure and imminent eviction on their home of over 20 years. You could hear the relief in her voice as we helped her with temporary housing support, credit counseling (to help advocate for her with the bank foreclosing on their house), and CalFresh (food stamps) support, for which she easily qualified given the number of mouths she was feeding on her own.  I experienced first hand that 2-1-1 is a powerful resource. Now another family has a shot at re-making their future because of one phone call, and the community resources that will flow from it.

Moments like that remind me of why I’m honored to work at Interface.