VAC asks assistance for 211 information service

PARKERSBURG - Volunteer Action Center Executive Director Wendy Tuck asked Wood County commissioners for $2,000 to help fill a funding gap for the center's 211 information and referral service.

The commissioners told Tuck they could not act on her request Monday since she was not on the agenda.

"The 211 program is a statewide system that allows people to make non-emergency calls seeking information. There are literally thousands of agencies on the information/referral system. All the the calls go to a centralized call center in Weirton, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If it is during regular business hours and the call is from Wood County, the call is sent back here. We have someone in charge of the system here who answers those calls," Tuck said.

She provided a summary of the 4,276 calls from December 2007 to December 2008. The calls included inquiries for information for everything from abuse, neglect, adoption and animal control to employment, financial assistance, food, taxes, housing, health and medical assistance.

"From the previous year, we had almost 2,400 in 2007. A lot of the callers need help with rent, utilities. They may need a small business loan, want to know who to call, or they want to know how to find a support group for a loved one. It's a general clearinghouse," she said.

"We have also received about 1,700 calls relating to social and recreational activities like the Honey Festival, Harvest Moon, Homecoming, they want to know what's happening, contact information. It's not a huge part, but these calls are geared toward tourism and recreation. We wanted to ask for $2,000 just to fund this program. We are already in your budget and we don't want to jeopardize that; it supports a lot of our other programs. This would be in addition to that, specifically because of the large number of calls about social and recreation programs," Tuck said.

The VAC director said 211 was funded through development grants from the city of Parkersburg, but after eight years the program was no longer considered an innovative, or new program.

"So the need has gone up, but the funding has gone down. We have applied for another grant through a private foundation, but will probably not receive that until March. So we are looking for something to fill the gap," she said

Tuck said calls received during non-regular business hours are handled through the Weirton Center, which has a similar database.

"But during our regular hours, our specialist knows so much more about local contacts, so they would send the call our way during the regular hours," she said.

"We can't take action today because you are not on our agenda," Commissioner Rick Modesitt told Tuck.

County officials said they would be willing to take the funding request under consideration.

"We could address it at budget time," commission President Bob Tebay noted.

"We were wondering if it could be covered under your hotel/motel tax revenue," Tuck said.

"The funding for the hotel/motel tax is already allocated," Modesitt said.

"This is the first time I've heard of this program and I think we need more information," Commissioner Blair Couch said.

Tuck requested an Innovative Grant Program application. In the spring of 2007, the commission doubled the hotel occupancy tax and at the same time agreed to put 8.5 percent of the hotel tax revenue into a newly created Innovative Programming Grant Fund. To qualify for these funds, programs or agencies must show they will increase overnight stays, promote a positive image of the area, increase expenditures by visitors in the area, enhance the quality of existing programs and encourage new program development. This grant funding has so far been allocated to wrestling, softball, soccer and basketball tournaments, the visitors bureau for brochures and an American Legion baseball team.