211 Racine Success Stories

211 Racine a collaboration between SAFE Haven, the Racine County Human Services Department and the Racine County United Way, is the one place to call for Social Service referrals and supportive listening. When you have exhausted all your other resources, and if you live in Racine County call 211! Your help may be just a phone call away. Here are just some of the success stories the program has experienced to date.

A young woman calls 211 Racine saying that she is 9 months pregnant and her husband had just tried to run her over in his truck. She is understandably shaken and scared. After determining that he is gone and she is safe I asked her what she wanted to do in the situation and she answered, “I want to get out of here before he comes back.” I made a quick call to the Women’s Resource Center and they said they would go and get her. With one phone call she received immediate help in what could have been a fatal situation.

            A man trying to detox off Narcotic Analgesics calls 211 Racine saying he thinks he is losing his mind. The Operator on duty has the opportunity to talk with this young man for quite a while about the normal process of detox and to encourage him in his decision to get his life back on track. They discussed what he could say to his doctor to prevent his prescribing this man more medication and relapse prevention strategies. At the end of the call, the man thanks the Operator repeatedly for being available to him when no one else seemed to be. Again, one call to 211 gave this man the courage to endure the agony of withdrawal knowing he didn’t really have to do it alone.

*Joan heard about 211 Racine on the news and decided as a final attempt to call. She just found out her 17 year old son was a homosexual. He had not openly admitted this, but she said found many indicators, and it was clear to her that he was gay. Joan and her husband, *Bob are "well known" people in the community and Bob felt this would have a negative impact on the way their family was looked upon. Joan was willing to be educated and accept her son for who he was, however Bob would not. Finding resources for the parents of gay/lesbian children was next to impossible. Joan and I spent a lot of time talking about feelings and how to make her son feel "safe" to talk about his decisions.  We also spent a lot of time talking about the father, and ways to help him be comfortable with his son, and provided safety for him to just be who he was. Joan called to inform me that things seemed to be going well with her husband, that just maybe he was coming around. After one week, a follow up call was done to Joan and Bob. Joan was very excited, for all the right reasons. Bob had done a lot of self educating, and Joan talked to him very often about his feelings and what he was thinking. The son did "come out" and Joan was happy to tell me tell me that Bob was more than supportive of her son. She said "it's like nothing changed, all that worrying and stress for nothing, we both love our son, and nothing could make us love him less."

A 211 Racine Operator answers the phone on a Saturday evening to hear the caller state that he is sitting in his living room preparing to slit his wrists with a knife he has and saying he needs help. The operator asks the caller where he is and he readily discloses his name and address. At this point, the operator, who is alone in the Call Center goes into action. The operator grabs the walkie-talkie and beeps down to the Youth Shelter to get the attention of the Youth Shelter worker who immediately makes her way to the Call Center. The Youth Shelter worker calls 911 to dispatch and the operator stays on the phone with the caller offering supportive listening until the Racine Police Department arrives at the caller’s residence. After speaking with one of the officers and giving him details of the call, the operator ends the call. The entire call takes less than ten minutes. This is exactly how it is supposed to work and Kudos to everyone involved.

Regular caller *Marsha called recently and stated that she had been dialing “211” to reach us for weeks and had not gotten through because of the telephone problems that have been occurring for the past few months. She stated she had been in crisis because of her debilitating health issues and chronic loneliness. She was encouraged by the Operator to try to find some things to be grateful for in this difficult time. Marsha was crying and told the Operator that she knew she needed to do this, but had no idea how or where to begin. The Operator gave her a number of possible positive things in her life for which she could be grateful and Marsha acknowledged that there are, indeed, good things in her life that in the past she has taken for granted. She stated that she is going to work on her attitude and try to cultivate an attitude of gratitude and ended the call be telling the Operator that she is very grateful that someone came up with the bright ides to create 211 Racine, for without the 211 Racine Operators she would just be lost. What a blessing it is to be doing a job where with a few simple words, the quality of a person’s life can be improved. That is what 211 Racine is all about!

          It is a little after midnight and a call comes into 211 Racine from a 44 year old man with a tragic story to tell. His young son was killed by a drunk driver while crossing the street to go to school four years ago and then shortly thereafter, his wife was also killed by a drunk driver. Shattered by this double tragedy and struggling with his grief, he tried to go on and rebuild his life with his young daughter. This proved to be too much for him so he sent his daughter to live with his brother and sister-in-law for a while so he could try to put his own life back together. While she was in her aunt’s and uncle’s care she, too, was killed by a drunk driver while she was a passenger on a snowmobile. He stated that he was calling 211 Racine because he has been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and he is dying. He has only one lung has lost most of his mobility, requires breathing treatments and is quite ill most of the time. His girlfriend of two years is helping him but she has a 13 year old daughter of her own who she picks up on Tuesdays and then the two of them go to her parents’ house until Friday, the caller believes so the young girl will not have to be exposed to a dying man. This man feels he is letting his girlfriend down by dying and he has concerns about not leaving any issues of financial obligations when he goes. He stated that on the days when she is gone with her daughter, he is very lonely and really just wants to know that someone cares about him. He said his girlfriend never complains about his condition but he believes she may be pulling away from him as his time draws near in an effort to protect herself. This caller has a great attitude considering his situation and is not looking for sympathy or pity; he simply wants someone to talk to during his final days. That is a big part of what the 211 Racine program does best; provide supportive listening to anyone who needs it and to those who may not be able to find it anywhere else but at 211 Racine.

The 211 Racine Operator working first shift receives a call from another unidentified hotline worker saying that she has a caller on the line requesting suicide prevention. The Operator takes the call over and the caller is crying saying she has just moved here from Missouri and has been unable to afford her anti-psychotic medications due to financial problems. She goes on the stated that without the medication she hears voices that seem to be telling her to kill herself. The Operator determines that she is alone and that there are knives in the kitchen that she considered using to complete the suicide. The Operator gets her to go into the living room so she is away from the knives. The Operator tells the caller her name and finds out that the caller’s name is *Judy. Judy says she doesn’t want to feel like she is feeling anymore and that she believes she has been sick for a very long time. Using the walkie-talkie, the Operator attempts to get assistance from the Youth Shelter worker but to no avail. As the Operator has determined that this caller really wants help, she tells the caller she is going to put her on hold and find someone to come and help her. A page over the intercom brings help to the Call Center immediately and contact is made with Racine 911. The 211 Operator briefs the dispatcher and the dispatcher takes over the call. Together, they attempt to find out some identifying information on Judy but she states she doesn’t know her address or phone number. The dispatcher asks her if she has a piece of mail with an address on it and Judy gives the address to the dispatcher. The street name is unfamiliar to both the dispatcher and the 211 Operator so the 211 Operator asks her if she is in Racine and she states that she is actually in Manitowoc. The dispatcher calls Manitowoc 911 with the information and officers are dispatched to the scene. The 211 Operator also stays on the line and talks with Judy about her dogs and other things in an effort to keep her mind off the voices she hears and to keep her on the line. Judy is concerned that the officers may hurt her dogs so the Operator suggests that she put her dogs in the bedroom until help arrives The Manitowoc officers arrive and they are asking Judy to step outside her house. Judy lays the phone down and goes outside to meet them. A moment later an officer gets on the phone and states that Judy is in their custody and safe. Kudos are issued all around and the call is ended.

This is exactly why most of us at 211 Racine do this job. There is nothing as satisfying as knowing that you have played a critical role in getting help to someone in need and in this particular case, maybe even in saving a life!

 * The names have been changed to ensure confidentiality.