Tonight's session title was Education. We learned about United Way in Rapid City and how 211 works.
Sharee called me this afternoon to tell me about a tour of the facility if I got there early. I'm glad she did; I didn't get her email. Mary took a few of us through the facility and graciously answered all of our questions. Thanks, Mary!
Lynne of Rapid City 211 began by asking us what "Community Resources" means to us. We are women of diverse backgrounds; we were familiar with the term. Lynne explained the difference between dependence and independence, and that 211 is designed to foster independence. 211 is a resource that will help callers locate resources specific to their needs.
If someone calls 211 and says their house burned down and need shelter, they may not be able to think beyond that basic need. Call specialists are trained to intuitively know what other, unspecified needs the caller may have. If my house burned down, I would also need food, clothing, furniture, bedding, bath towels, dishes, pots and pans, soap...the list could go on for quite a while. Fortunately I have never faced that devastation. And if I ever do, I know who I'm gonna call: 211!
In addition, 211 can also answer random questions: Are there fireworks at Rushmore tonight? How much does a cloud weigh? And those are just for fun. Lynne encouraged us to call 211 and try to stump the call specialists. I am very glad we learned about this resource because my son is an inexhaustible fountain of questions for which I have no answers. He grinned his devilish grin when I told him he could ask 211.
Lynne also told us about the website but didn't go into much detail. By interacting with a call specialist, a caller will typically receive better service than surfing their website. The burned down house is an example of that in practice.
I met Anne earlier in the day at a community meeting at the Journey and also learned about 211 from the Sioux Falls perspective. Lynne was at that meeting, too, but did not present then. 211 is redesigning their website, ready to launch this fall. Currently the site consists of mainly pull-down menus and the search engine is not prominent. They are modeling the new site after the one in Tampa, or at least, that's the one he used for the presentation. The new site will have stronger search capabilities and will be more user-friendly. The site is geared towards agencies that refer people to 211 so that they can search for their clients and to check on their own information. People in need of 211 services can access the site at public computers located in public libraries, and some agencies have computers their clients can use to access the information.
Renee from United Way also spoke to us last night. All donations to United Way are distributed locally, within the Black Hills. There are 814 nonprofits in Pennington County. United Way supports 49 nonprofits in the Black Hills, including Sturgis, Northern Hills and the Southern Hills. Their board members serve for three years and then must rotate off; there is almost always a waiting list to join their board. Each year, all 6 staff and 35 board members visit each of the 49, soon to be 53, agencies supported by United Way. Our local United Way funds primarily agencies; the Imagination Library is the only program they fund. This is not the way all United Ways work, some fund primarily programs.
Renee invited us all to participate in this year's Day of Caring which will be Thursday, September 1. I will be camping in Nevada that week but several class members expressed an interest. Susanna mentioned a playground at Lakota Homes that she has been working towards. The Day of Caring can provide the labor she needs to assemble the playground!
Our group project is plugging along. The letter I wrote has been updated--thanks for your suggestions and edits!--and I'm sending it to Tracy for approval, and then to Lorena for the final ok. Anne found long racks requested for the closet for $80-120. We learned that the Swanky Blanky is closing and may have donations, so Anne volunteered to follow up for that and seek out other possible donation sources. Becky wrote a blurb for the church bulletins. After we receive the final approval and have our letterhead, and are able to send the letter out immediately, we will begin calling the churches. We decided to call for the initial contact, follow up with the hard-copy letter, and then follow up a week later with additional information. Right now, the initial contact is still under publicity, but I would like the drive team to help us with that. (I don't have a landline, so I'd really like to divvy the calls up a bit more)
Jennie and Katheen, we missed you and your valuable input! See you all next week!
Sharee called me this afternoon to tell me about a tour of the facility if I got there early. I'm glad she did; I didn't get her email. Mary took a few of us through the facility and graciously answered all of our questions. Thanks, Mary!
Lynne of Rapid City 211 began by asking us what "Community Resources" means to us. We are women of diverse backgrounds; we were familiar with the term. Lynne explained the difference between dependence and independence, and that 211 is designed to foster independence. 211 is a resource that will help callers locate resources specific to their needs.
If someone calls 211 and says their house burned down and need shelter, they may not be able to think beyond that basic need. Call specialists are trained to intuitively know what other, unspecified needs the caller may have. If my house burned down, I would also need food, clothing, furniture, bedding, bath towels, dishes, pots and pans, soap...the list could go on for quite a while. Fortunately I have never faced that devastation. And if I ever do, I know who I'm gonna call: 211!
In addition, 211 can also answer random questions: Are there fireworks at Rushmore tonight? How much does a cloud weigh? And those are just for fun. Lynne encouraged us to call 211 and try to stump the call specialists. I am very glad we learned about this resource because my son is an inexhaustible fountain of questions for which I have no answers. He grinned his devilish grin when I told him he could ask 211.
Lynne also told us about the website but didn't go into much detail. By interacting with a call specialist, a caller will typically receive better service than surfing their website. The burned down house is an example of that in practice.
I met Anne earlier in the day at a community meeting at the Journey and also learned about 211 from the Sioux Falls perspective. Lynne was at that meeting, too, but did not present then. 211 is redesigning their website, ready to launch this fall. Currently the site consists of mainly pull-down menus and the search engine is not prominent. They are modeling the new site after the one in Tampa, or at least, that's the one he used for the presentation. The new site will have stronger search capabilities and will be more user-friendly. The site is geared towards agencies that refer people to 211 so that they can search for their clients and to check on their own information. People in need of 211 services can access the site at public computers located in public libraries, and some agencies have computers their clients can use to access the information.
Renee from United Way also spoke to us last night. All donations to United Way are distributed locally, within the Black Hills. There are 814 nonprofits in Pennington County. United Way supports 49 nonprofits in the Black Hills, including Sturgis, Northern Hills and the Southern Hills. Their board members serve for three years and then must rotate off; there is almost always a waiting list to join their board. Each year, all 6 staff and 35 board members visit each of the 49, soon to be 53, agencies supported by United Way. Our local United Way funds primarily agencies; the Imagination Library is the only program they fund. This is not the way all United Ways work, some fund primarily programs.
Renee invited us all to participate in this year's Day of Caring which will be Thursday, September 1. I will be camping in Nevada that week but several class members expressed an interest. Susanna mentioned a playground at Lakota Homes that she has been working towards. The Day of Caring can provide the labor she needs to assemble the playground!
Our group project is plugging along. The letter I wrote has been updated--thanks for your suggestions and edits!--and I'm sending it to Tracy for approval, and then to Lorena for the final ok. Anne found long racks requested for the closet for $80-120. We learned that the Swanky Blanky is closing and may have donations, so Anne volunteered to follow up for that and seek out other possible donation sources. Becky wrote a blurb for the church bulletins. After we receive the final approval and have our letterhead, and are able to send the letter out immediately, we will begin calling the churches. We decided to call for the initial contact, follow up with the hard-copy letter, and then follow up a week later with additional information. Right now, the initial contact is still under publicity, but I would like the drive team to help us with that. (I don't have a landline, so I'd really like to divvy the calls up a bit more)
Jennie and Katheen, we missed you and your valuable input! See you all next week!
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