232-HELP offers info

By JEAN L. McCORKLE
jmccorkle@daily-review.com
When residents need help with social services not typically covered by traditional food and housing programs, they may not know who to call.
That’s where 232-HELP steps in.
The Lafayette-based organization serves 10 parishes, including St. Mary, in the process of directing a person to needed assistance. Executive Director Rae Logan said that the agency could be described as a triage of information.
Sometimes an area or region has a need for a service that is unavailable. Logan said that 232-HELP tries to “incubate and nurture” programs that fill those needs.
Lafayette’s 232-HELP is one of six designated 211 centers in Louisiana.
If you dial 211 you can locate blue tarps after a hurricane; food, shelter, water or MREs after an emergency; counseling during a crisis; housing if you can’t afford typical housing; along with medical, dental and other social services when you are not sure where to turn.
Originally established in 1965 as the Southwest Louisiana Education and Referral Center Inc., 232-HELP was organized as an education and referral center to identify, catalogue and better connect those who need social service support to providers of those services.
The organization has given birth to more than 30 different nonprofit organizations including The Rape Crises Center, The Child Protection Agency, The Community Health Clinic, The Epilepsy Support Group, The Down Syndrome Foundation and others.
Current in-house services provided directly by 232-HELP include the Medical Appliance Loan Program, Project Rx, Medical Transportation Assistance, Christmas Program and Enhanced Information and Referral 211 Services.
One of the flagship programs addresses dental treatment for elderly, disabled or medically compromised citizens who otherwise would be unable to be treated because they cannot afford it. The 232-HELP Donated Dental Program was launched in 1988 to provide free dental treatment to those that meet financial need-based criteria.
The program has grown to 49 dentists and since 1988, has provided more than 1.937 million dollars of in-kind services, Logan said. In St. Mary Parish, Dr. Dean Listi is a member.
Another service offered is a “loaner” program for wheelchairs, crutches and walkers for people that need them but cannot afford to purchase them.
In 2012, St. Mary residents placed 1,233 of the 63,085 calls the seven-member staff of 232-HELP handled, Logan said.
Of the St. Mary calls, 25 percent were classified as information and referral, meaning the caller had a personal situation and requested information on where to turn, Logan said.
Another 24 percent was for disaster assistance. As part of the state 211 system, 232-HELP works with Duval Arthur and St. Mary’s Office of Emergency Preparedness to assist in addressing manmade or natural disasters in the parish.
Following that are 14 percent for utility payment assistance, 11 percent each for food; and housing, shelter and rent assistance; and five percent each for specialty medicine and public assistance programs; and 1 percent for legal assistance.
While 232-HELP (4357) still functions as a valid phone number for the informational agency in southwest Louisiana, it is simpler to just dial 211. Logan said the service area covers 10 parishes including St. Mary and Terrebonne, serving over 700,000 people.

232-HELP
calls by parish
The 10-parish service area of 232-HELP, ranked by total number of calls in 2012.
—Lafayette, 39,652.
—Vermilion, 9,581.
—St. Landry, 2,432.
—Iberia, 2,216.
—Acadia, 2,057.
—St. Martin, 1,610.
—St. Mary, 1,233.
—Terrebonne, 1,031.
—Evangeline, 606.
—Avoyelles, 434.