By admin 
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Budget cuts are about to make it tougher for people experiencing crisis in our state to find the services they need.
Read more Rock Canyon Fire in northern Arizona now 3K acres, campgrounds threatened
Crisis hotline’ 211′ will stop its live services come August because there’s no money to keep it going. That number connects people to a human, who then directs them to the services they need.
However, the new state budget, signed by Gov. Katie Hobbs, doesn’t fund this crisis hotline. If this hotline is something you use, don’t panic.
The ’211′ hotline will still be available, but callers will now reach an automated system, rather than a live human. Valley nonprofits say the change will only make their work more difficult.
Some Phoenix residents who have used that crisis hotline say they’re scared for what the future of help looks like for the most vulnerable.
“Homelessness here is terrible. I have never been homeless a day in my life. Never. But last July, I lost my home with my kids, and a mother who’s in hospice. There is no help out there. Call 211? Don’t call 211. Nothing pans out, and everything is tapped; everything is exhausted,” one woman told Arizona’s Family.
The new state budget, passed by Republican lawmakers and signed by Gov. Hobbs, did not list funding to pay live operators for 211.
While the resource itself isn’t going away completely, the nonprofits that give folks the services they need are now left trying to figure out how those calls will be handled.
“Especially for people in crisis, not being able to get to a person,” Tanner Swanson said.
Swanson works with A New Leaf, an organization that provides homelessness and domestic violence services in Phoenix. He says they get 700,000 calls per year.
All the calls live operators would take may now go directly to the organizations providing the help.
Read more Mayweather faces theft allegation tied to $200,000 check, court records say
“The nonprofits are going to get those calls, and we are not set up to receive those calls. We don’t have people just at the ready to handle hundreds of calls,” Swanson explained.
Just a few weeks ago, a hotline for domestic violence survivors, known as SafeDVS, was also cut for the same reason — lack of funding.
Swanson says the loss of just one more resource is squeezing the nonprofits tighter than ever.
“It’s one of those situations where something that shouldn’t happen is happening, and we’re going to have to deal with it,” he explained.
Arizona’s Family will keep tabs with Valley nonprofits to keep you updated.
Leaders with Solari, a Tempe-based crisis group that runs 211, say they are working to get this resource back.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Solari says:
“For 10 years, Solari has operated the 211 Arizona information and referral services program as a lifeline for individuals and families across our state, connecting people to critical resources during life’s most challenging moments. More than 1.1 million referrals to services were provided. We are incredibly proud of that impact and we are deeply saddened to see live-answer services come to an end,” said Justin Chase, Solari CEO.
“We explored every possible path to sustain live-answer service but ultimately were unable to secure the long-term funding required to continue operating the program at its current level. While this chapter is closing, we know that the need for connection to care remains as urgent as ever.”
“Beginning August 14, Arizonans will still be able to access the regularly updated 211 Arizona resource database at 211arizona.org and through the automated phone system by calling 2-1-1. Solari remains committed to supporting communities through our broader network of services, including operating the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline for Arizona, and to advocating for sustainable, accessible pathways to care across our state.”
We have reached out to Gov. Hobbs for a comment.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Read more Pueblo High principal facing allegations of misconduct, intimidation, retaliation