Eden I&R tells Newark council 2-1-1 links residents to housing, disaster help and warns contracts are at risk

Gitanjali Rawat, co-interim executive director of Eden Information & Referral (Eden I&R), told the Newark City Council on March 27 that the county'wide 2-1-1 call center provides round-the-clock referrals for housing, benefits and disaster information but faces a funding shortfall that has already triggered staff layoffs.

The presentation outlined how 2-1-1 connects callers to a resource database of more than 2,500 human-service programs and a separately maintained housing database with roughly 78,000 housing units; Rawat said the housing database, first developed after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, is updated monthly and available at achousingchoices.org. "2-1-1 is a 24/7 call center. We connect people to the resources that they need, around the clock," Rawat said.

Why it matters: Newark and other Alameda County cities rely on 2-1-1 as an entry point for residents seeking shelter, benefits enrollment and disaster guidance. City officials were briefed on limits to 2-1-1's ability to place callers in shelter immediately, the program's demographic reach in Newark, and a funding risk that could reduce services.

Rawat described several core services: telephone and text contacts (the text number is 898211,…