The 211 network in northern Ontario has seen an increase in the number of calls its gotten since the pandemic started.
Marie Klassen is the executive director of the service and says one of the most common calls they get is for food banks.
“Emergency food…where is the nearest food bank…shelter and very low-cost clothing,” says Klassen.
“Those are the basic needs kinds of calls we get probably on a daily basis, and we’re not seeing that go down, unfortunately.”
Klassen adds part of their job is to make sure all their information is up-to-date.
“What we’re finding, a lot of people calling 211 during the pandemic have called 211 for the first time because it was our mandate to keep all of this volatile information up-to-date. As you know, it was changing every day.”
Klassen says they can point people in the right direction for any social, community, or government service in the region they might need.
