Our History

HOTLINE FOR HELP

Hotline for Help is established as a volunteer hotline and community Information & Referral (I&R) service for Vermont's Windham County residents.

HELPLINE

Hotline for Help merged with United Way of Windham County to maximize the resources of both organizations to meet community needs, becoming Windham County United Way’s HELPLINE Program.

Partnerships

United Ways of Vermont, Vermont Agency of Human Services, Area Agencies on Aging, Vermont Department of Libraries, E-911, and other service providers begin planning for the development of a 211 service for Vermont.

Get Info

GET INFO Champlain Valley is established at United Way of Chittenden County as a community I&R service for Chittenden County residents.

Get info and helpline

GET INFO and Helpline were merged to form the foundation of a statewide database and information & referral service.

Website

The Vermont 211 website is launched and includes a searchable database of services.

VT Public Service Board

VT Public Service Board approves United Ways of Vermont as the designated service manager of 211 in Vermont.

211 in Vermont

211 in Vermont is officially launched by United Ways of Vermont on February 11th.

Service Expanded

Vermont 211 expands service hours to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

H1N1 ASSIST

Vermont 211 Assists the Department of Health with H1N1 (Swine Flu) public inquiry calls.

Certified

Vermont 211 is awarded a Certificate of Accreditation from the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems (now known as Inform USA).

Emergency Housing

The Agency of Human Services' Department for Children and Families - Economic Services Division contracted with Vermont 211 to respond to emergency housing requests during after hours and on a 24-hour basis during weekends & holidays to provisionally house people experiencing homelessness.

tropical storm irene

Vermont 211 took reports of property damage from Vermonters and passed the information on to FEMA, resulting in a speedy federal disaster declaration. There were over 2,000 reports of damage received in response to the spring flooding followed by Tropical Storm Irene in August.

Help Me Grow VT

Vermont becomes a Help Me Grow affiliate state, thanks to a partnership between the Vermont Department of Health and Vermont 211.

hours reduced and restored

Increased operating costs and lack of funding led to reduced hours. Funding was later secured to expand in-state hours to midnight.

covid-19

VT 211 assists with response to the pandemic and provides many referrals during this time. From Feb. 26 2020-March 18 2021 VT 211 handled 59,972 calls, emails and texts.

flooding

Two years of disaster response

hours reduced & restored

2023 hours reduced to 8am-11pm per AHS contract; Hours restored to 24/7 in 2024.

20th anniversary

Vermont 211 turns 20 on February 11, 2025