Eastern Washington 211  

2-1-1 is a free, easy-to-remember three digit telephone number federally reserved for information and referral for health and human services.

Eastern Washington 2-1-1 (EW211) is one of seven call centers in Washington State, serving Spokane, Stevens, Ferry and Pend Oreille counties. EW211 began operations on January 23, 2007 and took over 18,000 calls in its first year of operation. EW211 provides referrals for food, clothing, shelter, legal services, employment, utility payment assistance, rental payment assistance, senior services, health care, low income housing, substance abuse, educational services, volunteer opportunities and other social services that are available in the community.  Calls are answered by volunteers trained in Information and Referral assistance who can connect callers to appropriate resources in their community. More than 65% of the United States population has access to 2-1-1 services. EW211's comprehensive database contains over 511 agencies and 2807 programs.

2-1-1 is also a vital resource during community disasters and has been used as a single point of access to emergency resources such as shelter, food, immunizations and any other resources used by disaster victims. The unique integrated state-wide telephone system and database that connects the seven Washington State call centers provides a roll over capability during disaster allowing support from the entire state to an affected area. During an activation of the Emergency coordination Center, EW211 is utilized to handle non-emergency calls and can operate as the public information phone bank.

EW211 is available Monday through Friday from 8:00am - 5:00pm. For additional information about volunteering, please contact the EW211 Specialist at (509) 838-4651 extension 2123.