Cold Call For Help

Larry, a young disabled man, contacted 2-1-1 Lake County when the weather was so bad that warming centers had been opened (around nine degrees). He stays in Mentor Headlands with friends and he has no family in the area. He has no boots and walks every day from Mentor Headlands to Lake Erie College to work and then walks home—it takes him an average of five hours to walk that distance. 2-1-1 Lake County supplied him with a telephone number for him to call to see about getting boots. Fortunately Subzero Mission had just donated hats, coats, gloves, and boots to a local agency and he was able to receive them from that agency. 2-1-1 Lake County also suggested he contact Laketran Dial A Ride for transportation to and from work, that he apply for the Golden Buckeye card, and gave referral to a food pantry. He calls 2-1-1 back about once every two weeks to give an update on how he is doing. He now rides Laketran to and from work and, because he got the Golden Buckeye Card, he only has to pay $2.50 each way. As soon as a male bed becomes available at Project Hope he will sign up as a guest, saving himself approximately $100 a month on bus transportation. He has discussed goals with 2-1-1 and has written them down in the order he would like to accomplish the goals. He is going to apply for security deposit assistance with Lifeline in the early part of January, 2017. After he gets the deposit he will call 2- 1-1 for furniture and utility assistance. He said that 2-1-1 is very helpful, and cares about how he is doing and that he would not be where he is at without the help of 2-1-1.

Living in her car

A single mother of two children, Samantha, contacted 2-1-1 lake County because she and her family had been homeless and living in her car. She had no job. She stated that Lake County Job and Family Services had taken her children because of being homeless and sleeping in her car. With the assistance of 2-1-1 she developed a plan to get her children back. She was given referrals to Project Hope for immediate shelter, Ohio Means Jobs for assistance in finding a job, Lifeline for a security deposit after obtaining a job, as well as a furniture bank and for clothing. Intermittently she would call the 2-1-1 hotline for additional information. Much later she returned the call to 2-1-1 and advised the specialist that she had gotten her children back. She said that “the children are very happy – and will always attribute her success because 2-1-1 Lake County helped her figure out where to start. She could not have done all this by herself.”

Thanksgiving blessing

The day before Thanksgiving a family came to Lifeline and met with a 2-1-1 staff member in the lobby. The family included a mother, father, a girl around 10 and a boy around 12. They had just been evicted and had no place to go for the night. Project Hope family rooms were full. They were sent to Lake County Job and Family Services where they received a two week hotel voucher. They were also referred to two (2) different places where they could go and get a Thanksgiving meal, sign up for Christmas gifts for the children, a Christmas food basket, and food pantries for the day to day. They used the balance of their PRC for rent deposit as Lifeline was out of funds at the time. They utilized Lifeline’s HEAP Winter Crisis program to get utilities turned on in their name. I wish you could have seen the smiles on those children’s faces when they realized that they would not have to sleep in the car.