By Alisa Boswell

Roosevelt Review Correspondent

Portales City Councilors declared February as National 2-1-1 Month at their Tuesday night meeting, with United Way of Eastern New Mexico Executive Director Erinn Burch sharing with councilors how much help the call center has provided to area residents.

The 2-1-1 program helps residents with basic needs, mental and physical health services, employment, people and elderly with disabilities, as well as offering people counseling and advice regarding different options they can seek out to help with their issues.

She said the program is also currently offering free tax services at www.myfreetaxes.com and through Eastern New Mexico University.

“Sometimes people have items they’d like to donate and put back to use in the community but just honestly don’t know what organizations are best to utilize for it,” Burch said, adding that people can also call the number to ask questions about volunteering and donating.

“In the last 11 years with United Way and 2-1-1, we took over 16,000 calls, and that is 16,000 people in our area  that could get over their problems a little faster with the help of their community,” she told councilors, adding that last year, the local 2-1-1 answered 2,147 calls.

More excitement is to come for the local United Way as the organization makes big plans for expanding into Roosevelt County with an office and certain services.

UWENM expanded the Reality Check Day, which teaches high school freshman how to manage finances, into Roosevelt County last year.

But expanding is only going to get better, according to Burch, who said the fact that there is no location with a sign in Portales causes people to not realize that United Way’s services are at work to Roosevelt County.

“We’ve had a wish to have an office presence in Portales for a very long time, but we don’t necessarily have the budget to rent a very big place,” she said.

Then this past fall,  an opportunity presented itself in the form of the Portales Presbyterian Church, whose staff approached United Way to see if they would want to make use of an empty building attached to the church rent free.

The rest is history.

“We’re really excited that everything is a go,” said Burch. “Now, we just have to find time and volunteers and furniture to get us moved in there.”

Along with an office space, UWENM is also expanding its spring break youth volunteer camp into Portales in which middle school students from Portales will spend three days during their spring break doing fun, uplifting volunteer projects “that will implant in them that idea of giving back.”

The Women’s Initiative Network (WIN), which funds the Game Changer Fund, which is unique to the local United Way and provides people in need with financial help when it comes to obtaining their birth certificate or driver’s license, so they can get a job or pay house bills and other unique financial struggles.

“We like to use it for things out of the ordinary that are really making obstacles for people, especially in the areas of getting housing or getting a job,” Burch said.

She said along with seeking volunteers to help United Way run their Portales office, they need volunteers to help with the spring break program and to help plan WIN events they can hold in Roosevelt County.

“When you give to United Way of Eastern New Mexico, it stays  local. Not only is it going to stay with our organization, you’re giving from Portales goes towards projects, agencies, grants, initiatives and services in Portales. It doesn’t even wander up the road to Clovis,” Burch said.

To learn about volunteer opportunities with United Way and other organizations, call 2-1-1 or visit www.volunteerenm.org