Who you gonna call? (3 photos)

Thursday, February 11 is 2-1-1 Day across North America.

2-1-1 is a continent-wide, free telephone service which directs its users to a variety of important services while diverting non-urgent calls away from 9-1-1.

Sault Ste. Marie Mayor Christian Provenzano and Gary Vipond, United Way Sault Ste. Marie and District chief executive officer, unveiled and raised the 2-1-1 flag at the Civic Centre Thursday, after an indoor ceremony attended by United Way officials, elected leaders and various community partners.

2-1-1 is answered live, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, providing information on where to go in a specific community to find a host of services and programs such as housing, employment, mental health and addiction agencies, food banks, childcare, disability support and the non-emergency police phone number.

2-1-1 service for Sault Ste. Marie and across the North is offered through a call centre in Thunder Bay, with data collected locally through the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre (SSMIC).

The call centre is paid for through the provincial government and each community's respective DSSAB.

United Way Sault Ste. Marie and District will be paying the Innovation Centre $18,000 for its help with 2-1-1 throughout the next fiscal year (April 1 to March 31, 2017), so make those donations to the United Way.

"2-1-1 is one of many incredible causes we support," Vipond told SooToday, urging the community to support the United Way's current campaign.

"I'm very excited to see 2-1-1 go from the conceptual stage to being fully operational and implemented in our community," said Robert Keetch, Sault Police Chief, to the audience gathered at the Civic Centre.

"2-1-1 provides an essential single point of access for our community's most vulnerable…it provides a quick and convenient  way for people to connect to social, health and government services," Keetch said.

"2-1-1 is also a valuable resource for police."

"In some instances calls which typically would be handled by our 9-1-1 dispatchers are now being placed to 2-1-1, staffed by highly trained specialists who can refer callers to the most appropriate agency which they need," Keetch said.

"This frees up time for 9-1-1 emergency call takers to now focus on calls for police, ambulance and fire services for life-threatening emergencies or crimes in progress."

More information on 2-1-1 can be found at www.211ontario.ca 

2-1-1 was first introduced in the U.S. in 1997 and launched in Canada in 2001.

The beginning of 2-1-1 service in Sault Ste. Marie came in September 2009.