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History
First
Call For Help was founded in 1982 by United
Way of Morris County to address the confusion
and frustration experienced by people in
need of help who didn’t know where
to go for assistance. In 1995, First
Call spun off from United Way as an
independent agency and, with the support
of United Way of Morris County, continued
to serve Morris County. In 1999, First
Call began serving Passaic County through
the support of United Way of Passaic
County.
In January of 2003, 2-1-1 became the new
telephone number to reach First Call For
Help. This was a great step forward,
making it easier for people in Morris and
Passaic counties in need to reach out for
help. Since 2-1-1 was activated,
call volumes have grown dramatically. First
Call handled over 10,000 calls in 2004,
and expects to double that volume in 2005.
In partnership with local United Ways, First
Call For Help's service area expanded to
cover Bergen, Union, Essex and Hudson counties
during 2003 and 2004.
In January 2005, First Call began handling
2-1-1 calls 24 hours daily, and that same
month, began making emergency shelter placements
in Passaic County in cooperation with Catholic
Family Services, the Passaic County Department
of Human Services and United Way of Passaic.
In February 2005, 2-1-1 became available
throughout New Jersey, a milestone that
was jointly announced by the New Jersey
2-1-1 Partnership and the state Department
of Human Services at a press conference
in Trenton.
In May, CONTACT-NNJ, a 20-year-old nonprofit
agency affiliated with Lifeline International
and 1-800-Suicide, brought its services
under the 2-1-1 umbrella by merging its
services with First Call for Help. Along
with the merger came a cadre of highly trained
CONTACT volunteers.
To read more about First Call's services,
click here
Supporters
We'd
like to thank the many organizations that
have supported First Call. The following
organizations provided financial assistance
in FY 2003 and 2004:
Board
of Trustees
Officers
Gary Shaw, President
Charles Bareijsza,
Vice President and Acting Treasurer
Rosemarie Agostini, Secretary
Members
at Large
Nancy Bareijsza
John Gardner
Diana Garcia Farrell
Heather
Tustin
Wynn
Johanson
Key
Staff
Jennifer Hay, Interim Managing Director. |
