 Off we are glad that Sheila J. Smith is joining us today so welcome to the non-profit show where we do have Sheila, president and CEO of 2-1-1 Broward and we are talking today about the 2-1-1 helplines and what this looks like when it comes to connecting to the local non-profits. So again really grateful to have you with the Sheila and I'm looking forward to learning more from you and your 2-1-1 helpline in your community. Julia Patrick is here, CEO of the American Nonprofit Academy. I'm Jarrett Ransom with a new pair of glasses. Happy? Wow! The non-profit nerd so these are my new nerd glasses for the day. I will take them off because even with these shutter lens it's really hard to see. Yeah but it looks good. I'm gonna in honor of you I'm gonna put on the non-profit nerd glasses which I cannot see anything so I just have to do it for like a short period of time. That's right I mean if we can't have fun what are we doing because as we were sharing with you Sheila we are coming up on 500 episodes and we are just so grateful to have the continued support from our guests as well as our sponsors so thank you to our presenting sponsors that allow us to have some fun and again bring amazing guests to the table. We have to give a shout out to Fundraising Academy. Tony Bell is the one that connected us with you and the 2-1-1 Broward community so again thank you to our presenting sponsors to each and every one of you for leaning into our non-profit sector as we all continue to navigate moving forward and what what next is on our agendas. So if you have not checked out our sponsors please do that not quite yet though but in about 27 minutes you can drive into this conversation with Sheila. Again Sheila welcome and thanks for joining us. Oh thank you it's such a pleasure to be here. Well you know this is really an interesting conversation that we're gonna have Sheila and I love that you can help us navigate this. I think for a lot of us unfortunately we're not so familiar with 2-1-1 we certainly know 9-1-1 but 2-1-1 and so we're really going to dive into this because the the integration of non-profit service is really I think at the core of this right so let's start off if for those of us that are neophytes what is the 2-1-1 system? Well 2-1-1 is a national phone number that you can dial to get help with virtually any problem or issue that you're dealing with so you're right you call 9-1-1 for critical medical emergencies or those kinds of things you call 2-1-1 for health and human service or mental health related needs or you need to be connected with services in the community and 2-1-1 is actually 96.5 percent covered in our country so wherever you're standing if you dial the 2-1-1 number from your phone you're going to be connected with the 2-1-1 that's in your immediate community. So in a nutshell 2-1-1 basically connects people who are in need with services that can help them. You dial 2-1-1 you're going to be connected with a professional counselor who is going to be empathetic who is not going to judge who is going to listen to you who is going to help you figure out where you might have needs you know the thing you called about and other things that might be going on with you or your family members really just talking through whatever the issues are and making sure that you're connected with resources that are available in the community. It is anonymous it is confidential it is for anybody including non-English speakers all of us have the ability to do phone-based interpretation and we encourage people to talk with us in whatever language they're most comfortable using. That is amazing I mean I'm just floored I think before we can open our green room chatter for those of you that are early birds and come into our digital doorways early you might have heard um I actually didn't because we talked about this before we even opened the doors. Julie and I were stating that on the west coast because we both live um in in the Metro Phoenix community you know we're not so familiar with 2-1-1's more on the west coast but this stat that you just shared Sheila and I'm going to round up 97 percent of our communities across the nation are supported by a 2-1-1 did I hear that correctly? You did hear that correctly and we're even in Canada so most of Canada is supported as well and it's a very large 2-1-1 network it is independent information and referral organizations that answer the 2-1-1 lines it's also in some communities a program of your local united way but we are available to you and accredited and no matter what 2-1-1 you connect with you're going to receive that same level of high quality empathetic service and support. So I've got so many questions but my first question is because after all we are the non-profit show so how does the 2-1-1 system know or connect with with the non-profit services that are out there because you know 1.8 million non-profits in this nation that are registered that's a lot of service going on I mean is this the sort of thing where you would call and say I'm new in town and I want to find out where I can get where I can volunteer or if if there's a valet this weekend I mean what give us an idea of kind of the level that these non-profits you know are working with. So I can use Florida as an example we have a 2-1-1 network in Florida that's comprised of 12 different 2-1-1 organizations each of us covers a region of the state for that region we maintain a database of resources of those non-profit agencies and programs that are available in the service area that we cover so I can narrow it down to Broward for example we are a nine county region so we have information about all the non-profit organizations within those nine counties and for us that means about 1500 different agencies and about 4500 different programs we have a team of people who do nothing but update those resources on an ongoing basis day in and day out they're keeping things up to date and current and when you call 2-1-1 and you say you know I'm I don't have enough money to feed my to buy food to feed my children and I'm only working part-time because the restaurant doesn't have enough customers and we're looking for things like where are where our financial resources that are available to help this family where do you live where is the closest food network food provider to your home or your place of work we're using that database and actually calling the resources that are most appropriate for you there are resources specific to veterans to homeless individuals to families who have a child born with developmental or physical disabilities as we learn more about you we ask questions when you call as we learn more about you your needs and your family we can narrow down the best possible resources for you agencies we connect with to keep the information up to date to constantly add new program information as services change and evolve on an agency level so it's really a network of partners where 2-1-1 is kind of that information keeper if you will and that that gateway both for the nonprofit sector and the people who need the services that they offer wow I have a question and I don't even know if this is quite relevant but I'm thinking you know if we're traveling is there a need or is is are we still able to call the 2-1-1 and and receive help or services depending on what it is and I'm asking if that's even relevant because I'm thinking if it's a short-term travel it might not be relevant but if it's more of a longer term how does that work for someone who's just visiting the community so sometimes you end up in a community and you you you got robbed I mean anything can happen you lost your ID you don't know where to stay for a night you booked an Airbnb that you thought was going to be a great place to stay and you get there and you find that it's not we don't really have the ability to know those private resources but we can certainly walk you through the nonprofit kinds of support that would be available for you while you're here locally and if you needed to connect with an agency for a child with special needs and you needed some extra support you could connect with a provider in the community that you're located in each of the 2-1-1's also has a local number so we are online through 2-1-1.org our resource databases are available to search online so using that you can search anywhere in the country depending on where you are and where you want to find resources you can also dial the 2-1-1 local number that is in the community that you're from if you want to connect back with you know the place you're from and not the place that you're visiting. Thank you. Let me ask you this question and and this is just more of a verification you're specifically connecting the callers to non-profit registered agencies or non-profits correct? Correct we have inclusion criteria so we're not keeping a resource database of private private providers necessarily unless there's no nonprofit or free equivalent we might have information about private services that offer a sliding fee scale for example or if there's no nonprofit equivalent but we're really trying to focus on the nonprofit resources as well as the government sector resources in our databases. And you in particular as we can see from behind you you're celebrating 25 years so again was Broward County 2-1-1 as Julia said earlier the pioneer of this I mean where where did this originate or how early was Broward a part of the 2-1-1 community? We've been a 2-1-1 since about the year 2000 2-1-1 started a little bit before that before we became a 2-1-1 like many of us across the country we were an information and referral and crisis service provider so we had done this before 2-1-1 became came along and when the FCC designated the 2-1-1 number we became a provider using that particular phone number so we had a long number before 2-1-1 came along. I love it you know it's really listening to you I'm thinking it's super genius to tag that 2-1-1 to 9-1-1 because so often I sat on a board where part of my training was to go to sit on the 9-1-1 board and for a shift to listen what was going on obviously not to participate but just to witness and it was riveting to hear what went on but I did feel like there were a lot of calls that came into 9-1-1 that really I hate to say it but we're a waste of time or resources to the emergency network right and that the 2-1-1 was something I wasn't even familiar with this was only like 10 years ago so it's interesting to me that maybe we need more education or is that just the part of the country that I'm in what are your comments about that many of us I think all of us I would venture to say work very closely with our 9-1-1's in our communities to make sure that calls can be sent to 2-1-1 when they're not appropriate and and come into a 9-1-1 center so that that really helps a lot so they're like literally like that 9-1-1 is like literally patching through calls to 2-1-1 and in many cases they'll encourage people to dial 2-1-1 if they need extra support so in our county our for our sheriff's office deputies actually carry 2-1-1 cards with them when they're out in the field they have BSO information on one side of the card 2-1-1 information on the other side of the card they often when they're out responding to whatever they're responding to people are saying don't leave yet please I'm having trouble with my son who's experiencing mental health difficulties and we don't know what to do they're able to give out the cards encourage people to call 2-1-1 and know that they're going to be able to reach out to us 24 hours a day seven days a week 365 days a year and get a response and get help so it's really a very close partnership between the 2-1-1 and the 9-1-1 organizations that is great to hear and what you were saying in your community maybe I got these numbers right 1500 organizations providing 4500 programs is that correct that is community members so how does and I heard you say there is someone constantly or someone's plural only imagine um especially during these trying times the last two three years that we've been going through and I'm curious Sheila if you could talk to us about what the 2-1-1 community has seen by way of trends and you know peaks really where the demand has been and and how that's navigated for where you are today there's nothing like a crisis or an emergency you know be it COVID or a disaster in your own community or a hurricane to really highlight the importance of 2-1-1 and we find when these kinds of things happen there's a lot of promotion across our communities encouraging people to call 2-1-1 I can tell you that COVID the COVID pandemic has been really interesting I kind of expected that we would get a lot of calls related to the disease itself but that's really not what happened the first two months of the pandemic the bulk of the calls were related to for food and emergency financial assistance you know people losing their jobs and not being able to pay for necessities after about two months it radically switched the 2-1-1's are kind of that canary and a coal mine were the barometer of what's happening in the community so we were able to say to our community look where the calls for food are off the charts they're the pantries shelves are bare and we had a lot of our local funders step up and provide for the needs of the food pantries so people in our community were really able to get food and those needs plummeted because they were being looked after three months in it was all related to mental health um anxiety emotional health um struggles with with families you can imagine a family in a domestic violence situation to begin with now being enclosed in a house 24-7 those kinds of situations we saw escalating uh young people who couldn't go to school who are forced into online learning struggling with um being isolated from their friends elderly adults who at least were able to get out and socialize a little bit with their friends or attend senior meal programs or whatever it was are now isolated at home can't see their family for fear of catching the disease um mental health emotional needs across the board we also saw an increase in suicide related calls and that that started soon after the third month as well and I will tell you that as we've gone through this pandemic and we've seen the peaks and valleys this last peak with Omicron um really really hit people in a in a way that was much harder than before I think we were all thinking that we could put this behind us and it became very clear very quickly that we couldn't this is not over and people who might have been okay up until that point were we're not okay at that point so even today and we are two months in or two years in right now um we find that those mental health and suicide related calls continue to increase so this is this is not over for people by by a long shot no it's not and thank you thank you thank you for you and your your team and all the community members and leaders that play a part into this because you know you are you're one piece of the community and all of us together are affected and to know that pretty much the majority of us 97 percent of the nation has a 211 resource so if nothing else this has been a wonderful reminder uh to all of us that these you know community resources exist so uh to make sure that that we use them um did you yeah I want to jump in here quickly because um I want to talk about I have so many questions and um but I I don't want us to to end our day and our time with you Sheila without talking about the non-profit awards and the reason why I want to link you back in is because Miss Jared Ransom was actually one of your judges for this event that's coming up on March 3rd so Jared thank you for your service talk about this yeah well I'd love to hear from you Sheila um how 11th annual but how this started and got going um and yes thank you Julia I was a judge and reviewed the the proposals or the applicants that came in for four categories so you know I'm across the the country in Arizona and getting to read these proposals and submissions so I was able to review organization of the year the collaboration the development executive as well as that rising star so four of the many many categories that are are lifted up during this non-profit awards so yes Sheila tell us tell us more about this and and how this got started oh the awards are so exciting we really wanted to figure out a way to recognize and acknowledge the work of the nonprofit sector you know we we make life so much better for so many people in our community we lift people up we we help um we're a a significant contributor to our local communities both in the work that we do and as major employers um across our communities and we felt that the nonprofit sector didn't get enough um acknowledgement for the important work that we're doing so we created the nonprofit awards as a way to really highlight um organizations each year in different categories who are doing exceptional work in the community and draw attention to the kinds of innovative things that they're doing and impact that we're having and it's just been a tremendous event um the the nonprofits themselves have really appreciated the exposure and um have built a lot of connections themselves both among one another and connections with donors and corporations and others in the community who then go on to support them we also felt it was really important that we um give back to the nonprofits who participate in this event this is a two one one event of course but it's really a bigger event than us and we felt it was really important that everybody benefit from the event itself so we do award grants um we we narrow it down to three finalists in each category and then on the event on the day of the event um the award the winner is announced the winner of the award the winners each get a thousand dollar grant to their charity and each of the runners up in the in each category receive a five hundred dollar grant to their charity so to date we've given back over two hundred and twenty thousand dollars to nonprofit organizations in our own community and that's just in Broward County but um you know it it's just a wonderful event in so many ways it just lifts up and highlights the important work that you know we do in this in this sector and the contributions we make to bettering lives in our in our own communities yeah I love it and I Julia you know I've served on other review panels before and I'm always I mean as the nonprofit nerd I always geek out or nerd out over what people are doing in communities how they're serving how they're collaborating I was really impressed by many of the rising stars and to see absolutely to see you know up and coming leaders across the nation is really what we need to invest in this global citizenry that that our country needs and and deserves so again thank you it's it's been fantastic to be a part of the award programming and to to witness how it's done well thank you so much for serving as a judge um I think I know the nonprofits pretty well but every year I learn so much and and are impressed all over again with just the extraordinary work that's happening on the ground and I would encourage if there are other two one ones listening to this it's it's a great way to um really build a lot of exposure in your own communities as well so that more people know about us hear about us and we're happy to share what we're doing if it's helpful to any of the other two one ones across the country you know I'm I really appreciate you saying that because sometimes it's super hard to stop what you're doing and and give all your information away because you're so busy you're in the middle of what you're doing so I do appreciate and salute you for doing that because I think that's an amazing opportunity for probably many two-on-one organizations across this country and those that are watching us um I had we had a question that came in and I'm not going to read it because it's it's um maybe a little bit more specific than we want to drill down into but the question kind of was related to the overall structure of two one one and we don't have much time but I'm wondering for those communities or those folks that are watching us who maybe don't have as strong and is organized of a two one one system as you do talk to us about the overarching national structure because you mentioned that when we first started chatting that there is a structure that has been nationally formed and and give us some ideas about that so the two one one really falls under the umbrella of united way worldwide which which was the first to develop the brand and to get the two one one number um assigned for this purpose and use there's also a national group called airs um alliance of information and referral systems I believe and I could have that wrong but airs um accredits two one one organizations across the country and the accreditation is very extensive it's required every few years and it really ensures that everyone is adhering to that same level of high standards for service delivery and organizational infrastructure and database um proficiency and all of those different kinds of things so two one ones are accredited and people can be assured that we're able to manage whatever comes in and you know we're we're also receiving crisis calls people who are having thoughts of suicide or in some cases have even taken steps to complete a suicide and we're deescalating and connecting with mobile crisis or 911 to get someone out to the location so you know what we do is is really um it requires a very high level of skill to be able to manage a lot of what comes in and that accreditation assures that all of the two one ones answering those calls have that same level of skill I will say also that we we have to raise our own funds locally so with the exception of a couple of states um that have invested heavily in their two one ones most of our funds are raised on a local level so um when people haven't heard about us a lot of times it's because we didn't have the marketing budget that 911 had when they launched and everybody across the country knew what 911 was so we raise our funds locally and and generate a lot of support that way and many of the two one ones offer specialized kinds of lines and services as well we we call seniors on a daily basis just to do safety and reassurance checks we make 65 000 outbound calls every year just to make sure older adults who are living alone are safe and well all two one ones are doing something a little bit different also to respond to whatever the needs are in their own local communities and areas okay I mean there's a nuance to that figuring out how you can best serve your community we talk about this all the time in the nonprofit sector and how do we listen Jared I interrupted you sorry I was going to say I've got some work to do in my own community for 911 and um various family members right to really understand what's in the community for resources and I'm just fascinated and again just a little mesmerized by is provided and included so thank you again and and to your team uh Tracy also connected us and uh has been wonderful to work with through the nonprofit award so again you've got a fantastic team and so glad that Tony Bell with Fundraising Academy was able to connect us thank you so much hey it's been great Jared and I want to make sure that um you have our information sister pop those glasses on one more time I mean that's essential for this day so thank you Jared for showing up the best I could do were my red glasses hey Sheila thank you so much for joining us today we learned a lot and you've really um I think I'll say for myself I think you really made me realize that I don't know enough about this in my own community so I know that I need as Jared said to do some homework on this really interesting I can't wait to hear more about this as we journey forward and I suspect we'll we'll get some more time with you in the future because this is a fascinating conversation all of us on on so many sides of the nonprofit sector need to be knowing more about um here is Sheila Smith's information 211-broward.org check them out the website is incredibly incredibly extensive um and it really speaks to the needs and and how these issues are being funneled through um the Brower 211 system very very interesting hey Jared make sure that uh you are are dialing back in for Roku YouTube amazon fire tv Vimeo I was out for two episodes last week and I caught up on Roku um with you and so yeah it was a lot of fun so make sure if you want to find us in some of the past issues that's for episodes that's where you can go again we want to thank all of our presenting sponsors without you we would not be here having this dynamic conversation as we have today this week's going to be action pack we hope you join us because we have a lot going on and uh we want you to be a part of this journey with us as we end every episode we want to remind you and I think ourselves stay well so you can do well we'll see you back here tomorrow Sheila thank you thank you for your service