Mass211 Call takers on February, 11 in honor of national 2-1-1 day.
Massachusetts Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, Executive Office of Health and Human Services Secretary Mary Lou Sudders and Senate President Karen Spilka celebrated national 2-1-1 Day with Mass211 on Friday, Feb. 11, 2022.
Polito and Sudders spoke along with other dignitaries at a ceremony at Mass211’s call center at the United Way of Tri-County in Framingham, and recognized the more than 1 million calls Mass211’s Information & Referral specialists have taken related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Polito said the service is “clearly a lifeline to the people of this Commonwealth.” She presented Gov. Charlie Baker’s proclamation that Feb. 11, 2022 was 2-1-1 Day.
Mass211 has served as the state’s official call line for COVID-19, taking a total of 1,000,527 pandemic-related calls in 2020 and 2021 to both Mass211 and its dedicated mental health and suicide prevention helpline, Call2Talk. Both services are open 24/7, 365 days a year with translation services available in 150 languages.
Since 2006, Mass211 has served as the state’s primary information line and a resource for individual and family crises and basic health and human service needs, including food access, transportation, elder affairs and veterans services.
Sudders thanked the Mass211 staff and volunteers for being so compassionate and caring to callers in need, and being “the Velcro to health and human services” in the state of Massachusetts.
Mass211 Vice President Eileen Davis said the call takers “are truly the unsung heroes today, and today is really about you.”
Mass211 Executive Director Paul Mina, Senator Jamie Eldridge, Rep. Jack Lewis and Framingham Mayor Charlie Sisitsky also took part in the ceremony, and thanked our call takers during a tour of the call center.
To reach Mass211, dial 2-1-1 from any phone in Massachusetts or visit mass211.org to search online. To reach Call2Talk, dial 2-1-1, ext. 25, call directly to 508-532-2255 or 413-505-5111 (in western MA), or call through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK (8255).