This podcast is a visit with United Way of the Brazos Valley president Alison Prince, 2-1-1 Texas program manager Hilda Salazar, and WTAW's Bill Oliver.

Thursday is February 11th...or 2-1-1. That's the day set aside to recognize the 2-1-1 information phone number, which is administered in our region by United Way of the Brazos Valley.

Program manager Hilda Salazar says the call volume has not slowed down since the start of the pandemic.

United Way president Alison Prince says the pandemic has resulted in call volume almost doubling...from 26,000 in 2019 to 51,000 last year. That's after the decision was made to share the load among the state's 25 regional 2-1-1 call centers.

About half of the calls coming into the local center are from outside the Brazos Valley.