Maine SP 219: Joint Resolution Recognizing February 2025 As 211 Maine Month

Bill Text

Page 1 - 132LR2437(01)
STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE
_____
JOINT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING FEBRUARY 2025 AS 211
MAINE MONTH
WHEREAS, 211 Maine is a Maine-based health and human services and emergency
preparedness and response helpline that provides Maine people free and confidential referrals
to needed resources; and
WHEREAS, 211 Maine provides around-the-clock service statewide, offering efficient
and effective responses from people employed in Maine to questions arising from the growing
complexities in health, financial and human services and the needs of Maine people, and offers
interpreter services to those whose first language is not English; and
WHEREAS, since 2006, 211 Maine call specialists have assisted with requests for
information regarding topics ranging from substance use and recovery services to housing
support and food resources, in 2024 fielding over 75,000 calls, text messages and e-mails from
people looking for help for themselves or someone they know, amounting to over 271,000
minutes of service; and
WHEREAS, 211 Maine provides emergency operations support during times of natural
and other disasters, including assisting the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency
Management, Maine Emergency Management Agency, fielding calls from those impacted by
windstorms and floods, collecting critical data and helping people find winter warming shelters
or cooling centers; and
WHEREAS, this past year, 211 Maine directly distributed over $208,000 in emergency
heating assistance, potentially preventing utility shut-offs and keeping people from spending
winter nights in the cold; and
WHEREAS, 211 Maine handles a number of specialized services and partnerships,
including the opiate helpline and the gambling helpline and serving as the centralized access
point for the Help Me Grow Maine program, helping families with children from birth to 8
years of age get connected to needed services, and is also a resource for finding information
about needs such as COVID-19 advice, tax preparation and browntail moth caterpillar
prevention, mitigation and treatment; and
WHEREAS, 211 Maine provides a powerful example of how the government and
nonprofit and private sectors can work together to improve the quality of life of the people of
Maine; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED: That We, the Members of the One Hundred and Thirty-second Legislature
now assembled in the First Regular Session, on behalf of the people we represent, take this
opportunity to recognize February 2025 as 211 Maine Month.