The following questions were raised by people in the community:

In our community, people know where to find us. Why would 211 be needed?

211 is for people who don’t know who to call for services in their community or in other communities in B.C.  While some people may call your organization directly, there are others who are looking for your services but don’t know where or how to find that information. 211 will refer those people to you.

When will 211 be up and running?

The implementation plan will be completed and presented by the end of October 2006.  At this point, discussions about implementing the service will begin.

If there is going to be a call centre in the Lower Mainland and not here, I don’t see how 211 would help our community.

Underpinning the 211 service will be a province-wide database of social and community services offered by community-based organizations and government  agencies.  The call centre, or centres, will have information about services across the province, not just the area where they are located.  This will let someone in Prince George who is moving to Revelstoke easily find services by calling 211. Having central call centres allows for features such as access to community information and referral 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in multiple languages.