211 Brevard marks 60 years of handling crisis with salute to growth and community partners

If 211 Brevard were a person, they'd be old enough to join AARP, qualified for more than a few senior discounts and just a few years away from Medicare eligibility.

On Friday, that big 6-0 was celebrated as 211 Brevard officials invited guests to travel back through the years and recall the nonprofit's evolution. Large screens bore news headlines from what happened in each decade since the 1960s and charted how the vital service has changed over the years but always, remained focused on helping anyone in personal, financial or community crisis.

The celebration, at Space Coast Health Foundation’s Center for Collaboration in Rockledge, also included a tip of the hat to 211's milestone partners over those decades: Circles of Care; United Way of Brevard; Florida Department of Health in Brevard; Brevard County Emergency Management; Brevard County Housing & Human Services; Parrish Healthcare; and Central Florida Cares Health System.

In its infancy in 1963, the organization was a grassroots volunteer group providing support for individuals and families affected by mental illness. The nonprofit started one of Florida’s first teen and suicide hotlines, and grew from there. In 2001, 211 Brevard became the first in Florida and the seventh in the nation to implement the 2-1-1 dialing code.

"I think the thing that is striking to me, the through line over the years, is that mental health and crisis support," 211 Brevard Executive Director Libby Donoghue told FLORIDA TODAY.

"We were started as a chartered local chapter of the Mental Health Association. And over time, we added other kinds of services. So you don't have to be in a mental health crisis to call us. We can help you with other kinds of crises. Not being able to pay your rent is definitely a crisis. Or just needing information about how to find services or whatever. But we continue to do that crisis intervention."

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Antony Pulido, client health navigator for Parrish Health Network, said Parrish was "honored to serve" as the title sponsor for the event.

"There are too many of our community members who are not so fortunate," he said. "There's a lot of them who struggle with food and housing insecurity, substance abuse, domestic violence, countless hardships ... we're grateful to have such compassionate partners."

John Scott, director of Brevard County Emergency Management, and members of his team know the importance of having 211 to turn to, and the power of partnering.

"I want to take a quick second to highlight the great work we do with 211 and what they do for us," Scott told the crowd. "Hurricanes are obviously our big thing, the thing we're most known for. For (Hurricane) Irma, they answered over 12,000 calls for us in a five-day period, just to give you an idea of the volume that comes."

But it's "so much more than hurricanes with them," Scott said.

"Every day we're referring services to 211. Every day they're talking to us about needs in the community so we can help coordinate with many of you to meet those. So on a day-to-day basis, we wouldn't be able to function without you guys. I hope you know how important you are to us, and to our overall community health and success."

One very obvious way 211 has changed is more recent with the advent of 988, the national dialing code for suicide prevention.

In 2022, 211 Brevard became one of the 200-plus centers involved in the nationwide 988 launch. They'd been part of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network of crisis centers since it was started in 2005 with a 10-digit national hotline.

And with the introduction of 988, the number of calls spiked.

In the last fiscal year (2021-2022) of answering the 10-digit number, 211 Brevard averaged 191 calls per month, or 2,293 total. In the first fiscal year of answering the three-digit 988 number, the average increased 61% to 308 per month, or 3,699 total.

Those numbers just keep climbing. In the first four months of the current fiscal year 2023-24, the monthly average over 2021-22 has increased 216% to 603 per month. That's in addition to the almost 600 crisis calls answered monthly on the 211 dialing code.

That's because, in Brevard, "there is no wrong number to call for help, 211 or 988, to get our highly trained and compassionate staff," Donaghue told FLORIDA TODAY.

"I think the growth in the 988 calls is really as simple as there's an easy number to use to call when you need help. We saw that when we implemented 211. And certainly there's been a lot of national attention on it. So I think it starts with people who may be struggling, knowing there's an easy number to call and that don't have to look it up. It's out there."

Kelly Haskins of Merritt Island attended the anniversary celebration with her mother, Carol Landman, with both women wearing purple T-shirts bearing the words "You Matter: Do It For Hunter." An "I" is behind the bright-yellow M in "Matter."

Merritt Island High and Eastern Florida State grad Hunter Haskins was 18 when he died in September 2021. A University of Central Florida student, Hunter failed an online math test when the power and internet in his apartment went out, and, his mother said, had a panic attack before taking his life.

Now, his mother heads the five-month-old nonprofit "Do It For Hunter," devoted to suicide awareness and prevention. The group obtained permission from Brevard Public Schools Superintendent Mark Rendell to get a suicide prevention sticker designed by a Brevard graduate, Kyle Beil, and paid for by donors, on every BPS laptop.

Every student in Brevard has a laptop, Haskins said. And in a moment of need, she hopes they'll get the message on the sticker bearing the 988 number and the words "You Matter."

She thinks seeing such a message could have saved Hunter's life. He might have reached out, she said.

"A kid who may be in an emotional crisis won't have to worry about looking up the number, think 'Who do I call, where do I get help,?'" she said. "The number will be right there. I want it to be as well known as 911."

Being surrounded Friday by people devoted to helping those in crisis meant a lot to her.

"I think what I enjoyed seeing today was seeing the history of 211 Brevard, and everything they've been doing for the past 60 years," Haskins said.

"They've come so far and we've got so much farther to go. For us to be able to count on them, and partner with them now, for the 988 line, that's what we're all about."

Britt Kennerly is education/breaking news editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Kennerly at 321-917-4744 or bkennerly@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @bybrittkennerly Facebook: /bybrittkennerly.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Celebration toasts 211 Brevard and 60 years of helping those in crisis