What is even more disheartening are the words of two of the commissioners who voted against the measure.
Some quick review first. The 2-1-1 program is a simple telephone line for people needing help from area human service agencies. Just as someone in a medical emergency might call 9-1-1 for immediate assistance, someone needing help with basic needs – food, clothing, shelter, utility bill help — could call 2-1-1.
The 2-1-1 call would not be to an agency which would supply that help. Instead, the call would go to a center in Durham, where trained workers could access a database of available help in Surry County, questioning the caller on specific needs and then giving information on where to go for various forms of help.
The United Fund had requested $7,500 from the board in the first year of the program, and $5,000 each of the following four years.
Because just four of the commissioners were present when the vote was taken — Craig Hunter was away on a business trip — a 2-2 tie vote essentially killed the request.
Commissioners Jimmy Miller and Paul Johnson opposed the funding, and this is what they had to say about the request:
“These people know where to go,” Miller said.
“I don’t personally see the need for it,” were Johnson’s words.
We would say these comments show Miller and Johnson are woefully out of touch with a significant portion of the Surry County residents they were elected to serve.
First, we find Miller’s comments offensive, referring to those seeking help from human service agencies as “those people.”
Second, we find Johnson’s comments evidence that he just has no clue how many people in Surry County have come to a point in their lives — many through no fault of their own — where they can no longer pay their way or their family’s way. And we suspect he is equally clueless regarding how daunting a task it can be to try working through the myriad of what human services are available, and where.
“Those people” are not some easily defined demographic, all with the same background. Some people seeking help are teens who have finished school and are now out on their own for the first time. Others are young parents, perhaps some who suddenly find themselves alone, raising a child or two, after a spouse has left.
Still others are people who have been in the workforce much of their lives, maybe even in two-income households, busy going to work, paying their taxes and bills, building a life for themselves who, without warning, find themselves out of work, maybe even losing both household incomes because of area job losses.
“Those people” come from varied backgrounds, with different experiences, and some may know how to work within the social services and human services fields. However, we suspect the vast majority of “those people” have for the first time over the past year been forced to turn to social services, food banks, and churches for help.
“Those people” often spend hour upon hour seeking help with rent, only to learn another agency or organization is the one to which they should have applied. They spend hours — time they might otherwise be using looking for a job, or volunteering their time in the community while they are jobless — seeking basic necessities such as food. “Those people” burn money in their gasoline tanks chasing down help, often driving to one place for help, to be told they need to go elsewhere, only to learn there that they need to go to still a third place for the assistance they seek.
It is not inconceivable that “those people” spend hours every day chasing down just the basic needs of life, the type of thing Johnson or Miller might never think about because they don’t have to drive to six different places to get enough food for the week, or visit three separate agencies to secure resources to keep the lights on and the rent paid another month, not to mention all the time spent in line at each of those places.
A resource such as 2-1-1 could help “those people” learn quickly what is available, where, and how much time and money it will cost them to pursue the help they need. It can help them find the help they need, and position them better to provide for themselves and their families.
We hope the commissioners will revisit the issue of 2-1-1 funding. Even more, we hope Miller and Johnson spend some time getting acquainted with the people of their county.
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