Everyone needs help during an emergency, and knowing the right number to call for the right emergency can be vital when you’re going through a stressful situation.
There are a variety of different helplines that are easy to remember beyond just 911. There’s the City of Cleveland’s 311 line that answers approximately 200,000 calls each year about non-emergency city services. The United Way of Greater Cleveland’s 211 number connects more than 150,000 residents to things they need, like food, housing and utility assistance. And the new 988 line helps people going through a mental health crisis, such as feeling suicidal, or dealing with substance use.
On Monday's "Sound of Ideas," we're going to hear a recent United Way Community Conversation that focused on the need for these services in our region, and how these helplines connect residents through these emergency situations.
![The United Way Community Conversation featured United Way's Michelle Snowden, Frontline Service's Rick Oliver, the City of Cleveland's Elizabeth Crowe, and Cuyahoga County's Brandy Carney, and was moderated by Ideastream's Matt Richmond. (left to right)](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/fb92e85/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1166x650+0+0/resize/880x491!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fac%2F88%2Fcfa77a1941f2bde0ac570f1b21ab%2Funited-way-convo.jpg)
Guests:
-Matt Richmond, Moderator and Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
-Michelle Snowden, Associate Director, United Way 211
-Rick Oliver, Director of Crisis Services, FrontLine Service
-Elizabeth Crowe, Director of the Office of Urban Analytics and Innovation, City of Cleveland
-Brandy Carney, Director of Public Safety & Justice, Cuyahoga County