211 Palm Beach/Treasure Coast is a non-profit organization, which has been in operation since 1971 in Palm Beach County and since 2002 on the Treasure Coast. 211 is a confidential, non-judgmental telephone helpline that provides information, referral, crisis intervention, suicide intervention, as well as telephone counseling for people experiencing personal problems, emotional distress, or any other type of crisis. These services are provided at no cost and are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

In addition to year round services, 211 Palm Beach/Treasure Coast is extremely involved during the time of hurricane season or any occurring disaster as well. During these times, before, during and after, 211 is essentially supplying the same services as normal, except operators will be equipped to disseminate information regarding recovery and relief efforts, and as always, operators will be able to provide telephone counseling for those in need.

However, 211 Palm Beach/Treasure Coast is in need of volunteers from the community to aide in the process of gathering pertinent information related to hurricanes or other disasters. If and when a storm approaches or a disaster takes place, volunteers would be expected to correspond with the 211 Community Relations Specialists in regards to providing information on various events or circumstances he/she becomes aware of in their respective areas, such as distribution sites, road closures, community service announcements, etc.

Therefore, volunteers would need to have an efficient means of communicating before, during and after a disaster, such as a cell phone or home phone, and they would need to be knowledgeable about the community they reside in by either listening to the radio or reading the daily newspapers. Any valid or relevant information that is received will go directly to the 211 call center so that operators are able to provide the most current and reliable information to callers.

Becoming a "Community Volunteer During Disaster" is easy. We simply ask that the volunteer be 18 years of age or older and that he/she attend a brief orientation which goes over the 211 organization as a whole. For more information please contact Tara Martin at 772-766-0326 or call 2-1-1. Interested individuals may also visit the 211 website at www.211treasurecoast.org.