Since 2010, 2-1-1 Lake County has regularly received calls from a female living in Painesville who has five children. Over the years she has received referrals for many services, including Christmas programs for the children and Christmas food baskets, dental care, utility assistance, food, free cell phone and discounted utility service. She never came right out to say she was a victim of domestic violence but lead 2-1-1 to believe this was the case. She was referred to Forbes House for support. In 2019 she called

2-1-1 and stated she’d had three strokes but was doing much better now. Her number of calls to 2-1-1 has decreased over the years. She now says “I love calling 2-1-1. You guys are always there when I have a question and  I couldn’t have done all this without you.”   

In January 2019 2-1-1 received a call from family member concerned for their 62 year old father with Alzheimer’s. They reported he was having a lot of issues with anger and also had concerns for his safety as he would do things like leave the stove on and forget about it. Our 2-1-1 staff was able to connect this family with the Lake County Council on Aging who were able to get staff into the home to assist with his needs.  In the fall the family again utilized 2-1-1 to assist with getting their furnace repaired. With 2-1-1’s referral, Ashtabula County Community Action Agency was able to assist with repairing the furnace. 

2-1-1 Lake County frequently assists people with connecting to several agencies that work together to provide assistance.  One such example is a grandmother who initially was referred to the homeless shelter Project Hope Families Moving Forward for herself and three grandchildren who she has guardianship over. She was then connected with Lifeline’s Kinship Navigator Program. Through the assistance at Project Hope and Lifeline’s Kinship Navigator she was able to find permanent housing for herself and her grandchildren through the Homeless Crisis Response Program (HCRP) at Lifeline.  HCRP was able to assist with security deposit and three months of rent as well as utility deposit/arrears. She was also connected with the ADAMHS Board Compass Line in order to connect with mental health services.  Since moving to their new home they have contacted 2-1-1 for referrals to food pantries, furniture, Christmas assistance and PIPP for utilities.