On February 10, East Hawkesbury council unanimously approved a partnership with the non-profit Community Navigation of Eastern Ontario (CNEO). The agreement will allow residents to use the 211 Eastern Region service, where individuals can access everyday services and emergency updates from the township.
Originally, the 211 service number “was approved for information and referral purposes by the CRTC in 2001.” It is described in the agreement as “a free number helping people find the services they need quickly and easily,” and now includes the Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry, as well as Prescott-Russell.
The agreement stated that 211 can provide the township with updates to residents “before, during, and after an emergency incident,” including “confidential and multilingual phone (including TTY) and email service with specially trained staff equipped to serve vulnerable populations, provide advocacy, and follow-up support.”
The services offered will additionally “connect callers to critical resources by assessing their needs, identifying appropriate resources, and linking them to needed services.” This includes providing a central point to access information about volunteering and where donations can be made.
The full database of services can be found at www.211ontario.ca.
Thousands of calls are received daily about the over 56,000 services in “social, health, community and related government services. A caller could be anyone: an individual, a service provider, a refugee, a business owner, a government employee or even an elected official,” the contract explained.
In addition, the 211 service monitors social media platforms and conventional outlets to share facts and information with residents while also ensuring that rumours or misinformation are contained and corrected.
Council also noted that the contract ensures that “no liability shall arise against CNEO/211 Eastern Region if it fails for any reason to respond to a service request for assistance.”
The 211 service keeps non-identifying details about those accessing services, which services are being requested, trends, and service gaps so that it can provide accurate data when reporting back to the communities served.
