On Dec. 16, a Santa Barbara man was stuck in his home while the Thomas Fire approached. His caregiver was unable to reach him and the record-setting blaze was threatening his neighborhood. So he called 211, an information and referral system that aims to connect citizens with health and human services.
The hotline was answered by a call center operator, who informed the man that Easy Lift Transportation, the normal responder for someone in his situation, was inundated with too many requests and could not assist him. Not long after that, a county disaster service worker helped the man evacuate. And while Santa Barbara County officials declined to name the person in need due to privacy reasons, they say his case serves as an example of the necessity of 211 services.
“Our job is to get [the public] accurate information,” Elisa Pardo, Santa Barbara County’s 211 manager and sole employee, told the Sun. “Many times they have fears of things they are seeing on social media, and we are just trying to get them the accurate information they need.”
Since the Thomas Fire sprang to life, Pardo, the county’s Office of Emergency Management, and the operators who connect callers, have worked double time.
In the past three weeks alone, 211 Santa Barbara County in Santa Maria fielded more than 4,000 calls from people looking for information related to the Thomas Fire and resources available, or about as many as the office sees in an entire year. A report released by the nonprofit Santa Barbara Community Action Commision, which operates and partially funds the 211 program, said they received slightly more than 5,000 calls between July 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017.
“We were up at all hours of the day,” Pardo said, adding the office in Santa Maria has an emergency generator on standby in case the building loses power. At one point during the summer, text message requests for the service were so many that Pardo had to reach out to Michigan’s 211 service for help.
“During Hurricane Harvey in Houston we took some of [the local 211s] overflow,” she explained. “This was like that.”
While Pardo is the only full-time operator for Santa Barbara 211, she’s not without help, as a call center in Ventura works with Santa Barbara’s and other counties’ 211s to take calls and pass them on to appropriate parties.
Regardless, Pardo said the service had seen significant budget cuts over the years from Santa Barbara County and various other cities in the county that help fund it. She added that 211 wasn’t just for emergencies but also for accessing community support and safety services.
“Our goal is to get more support from our cities, get more funding from them and the county, and most importantly, bring awareness to communities during disasters,” she said. “But they should also know that we are available 24/7, and we are here to let them know what is available in their communities, whether it’s something for mental health, housing, addiction, or family and community support.”
Highlights:
• The Santa Maria Chamber of Commerce announced on Dec. 22 that commercial space was available across the street from Orcutt Union Plaza. The 1,100 square foot space is adjacent to Patricio’s Pizzeria, Jack’s Restaurant, and Old Orcutt Barber Shop. For more information, contact Broadway and Union Mercantile’s Greg Ravatt at (805) 714-4782.
• The Marian Regional Medical Center Foundation announced the receipt of an $18,000 donation from The Teal Journey Ovarian Cancer Foundation. It is the foundation’s largest donation to date, according to Kailey Cox, a communications specialist with the hospital. The money will go toward the Mission Hope Cancer Center where it “will be used to benefit genetic counseling and testing for local cancer patients,” the hospital said in a statement.
Staff Writer Spencer Cole wrote this week’s Biz Spotlight. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, mail, or email at spotlight@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 4-11, 2018.
