TOLEDO, Ohio — Call agents at United Way's 211 service have been answering phones nonstop for the past year.
Whether it's a shortage of food, help finding tax resources or assistance in scheduling a COVID-19 vaccine appointment, callers continue to reach out in record numbers.
"You know, these were really unprecedented numbers for us, we've done two rounds of hiring and have really wonderful, qualified folks in place," said Jill Bunge with United Way of Greater Toledo.
To put things into perspective, in February 2020, before the pandemic began, United Way handled just under 6,000 cases.
One year later, they handled nearly 13,000.
211 covers a variety of topics, but nearly 50% of the calls they've received in the past two months have been specifically related to questions surrounding scheduling a vaccine appointment.
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"So we have staff dedicated to those COVID lines. We're not only trying to troubleshoot, but we really want to make sure we're there for vulnerable populations who don't have access to technology," said Bunge.
As people get more familiar with how to schedule a vaccine appointment, call volumes have somewhat gone down over the past few weeks.
But staff is still manning the call lines for those who need assistance.
Dialing 211 will connect you with a United Way agent to help with any questions you may have.