Representatives handed out cards to remind students and others that help and connections to community resources can be found 24 hours a day through a simple phone call to 2-1-1.

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY – The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay has distributed 150,000 plastic 2-1-1 information cards to student services staff working in Hillsborough County Public Schools.

Boxes of cards were distributed to student services staff at a school district professional planning day Friday (Aug. 3) at Riverview High School.

The cards remind people that help and connections to community resources can be found 24 hours a day through a simple phone call to 2-1-1. Funds to print the cards were provided by TECO.

In addition, Crisis Center of Tampa Bay President and CEO Clara Reynolds did a presentation to the school counselors and provided an overview of Crisis Center of Tampa Bay services.

“School counselors and teachers are community heroes. They help to mold and shape the next generation, but they can’t do everything for the kids and their families,” Reynolds said. “People in our community need to know they can call 2-1-1. That number is a community gateway where they can have a confidential conversation and be connected to help.”

This is the second consecutive year that the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay has worked with Hillsborough County Public Schools to distribute 2-1-1 cards. In 2017, more than 60,000 cards were distributed to high school students. This year, cards will be distributed to elementary and middle school students in August with additional cards being distributed to high school students in September.

The mission of the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay is to ensure that no one in the community has to face crisis alone. The organization is the community’s gateway to help, hope, and healing, and is Tampa Bay’s elite provider of crisis and trauma services. Responding to more than 160,000 requests for help each year, the nonprofit agency offers a range of evidence based programs designed to meet community needs:

• Corbett Trauma Center (trauma counseling and sexual assault survivor services)
• TransCare (9-1-1 emergency and mental health ambulance services, medical van transportation)
• Gateway Contact Center (2-1-1: suicide prevention, crisis counseling, and information and referral services)

For information about the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, go to crisiscenter.com.

Photo shows Hillsborough County Public Schools student services staff with 2-1-1 cards. Photo courtesy of the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay.

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