Volunteers of America to launch new local service helpline

EVERETT — Volunteers of America Western Washington is launching a new local resource navigation service once Snohomish County’s 211 helpline moves to a statewide call center based in Seattle at the start of the new year, a press release said.

VOAWW Connect will launch Jan. 2 and connect residents in Snohomish and Skagit counties to food, housing, transportation, behavioral health and other essential resources. It can be accessed by the new local number, 360-VOA-HELP (360-862-4357), or the existing toll-free number, 800-223-8145.

Since 2006, Volunteers of America Western Washington operated the North Sound region of the Washington 211 helpline. However, the Washington state 2025-27 biennium budget reduced Washington 211’s funding by 66%, which spurred the consolidation of the helpline’s seven regions, interim Executive Director Amanda Madorno told the Herald in September.

“A lot of nonprofits have to look at how to do business differently, how to be smarter about it, how to get more efficient, how to streamline, in order to take care of the customers out there who we think are going to need us more than ever,” she said at the time.

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/volunteers-of-america-to-launch-new-local-service-helpline/