Issue 52          

April/May 2017 
Welcome to Data Blast
Data Blast is an e-newsletter prepared and distributed by the Census Information Center of Eastern Oklahoma, a program of the Community Service Council.  Data Blast is intended to inform and educate people in eastern Oklahoma about population, economic, educational, health and social trends in our local communities as well as in our state and nation.  



2-1-1 Oklahoma Requests for Assistance   
as an Indicator of Community Need 

2-1-1 Oklahoma is a statewide program shared by two regional organizations - Tulsa-b ased Community Service Council (CSC) and Oklahoma City-based HeartLine. The program enhances  access to community services as a sustainable, easy-access system for information and referral to comm unity services for those   who need help and those who provide help. 2-1-1 Oklahoma operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year-round, and is essential during community emergencies. The Tulsa side of 2-1-1, which was k nown for many years as Helpline, has been providing crisis intervention and health and human  services referral assistance to Eastern Oklahoma residents for nearly 50 years.

2-1-1 service data provide insight into the level and intensity of need  in our communities. Requests for assistance reflect community members' needs. Many of these requests are f or basic needs, like food, housing and  health care. For Eastern Oklahoma alone, 2-1-1 provided help for 120,000 requests for assistance during 2016.

  • Request assistance online: 211OK.org 
  • Request assistance by phone: Dial 211
  • Request assistance by text: Text 211OK to 898-211
 
Requests for Services by Category
 
  • 67,000+ Tulsa County residents made requests to 2-1-1 Oklahoma in 2016.
  • Housing crises requests (housing and utility assistance) made up the largest assistance category, with nearly 19,000 requests from Tulsa County residents last year.
  • Food/meal-related requests were the second most requested assistance category, with 10,000+ requests.
  • Many requests received were for both health care assistance and help with mental health and substance abuse issues.
  • Many requests reflect economic hardship, which comes as no surprise given the 102,000 Tulsa County residents living in poverty and another 120,000 living above poverty line but below self-sufficiency level.
Click here for interactive national graphics from the Census Bureau.
Client Demographics
 
  • Over half (57%) of the assistance requests coming from Tulsa County residents in 2016 came from people between the ages of 18 and 49.
  • 500+ requests came from children under age 18.
  • Approximately 75% of persons requesting assistance are female.
  • Many assistance requests come from veterans.
Click here for interactive national graphics from the Census Bureau. 


Until next time,

Melanie Poulter 
Senior Planner, Demography and Geography
Community Service Council

 
We hope you find Data Blast  an indispensable resource for information and research. 
We welcome your feedback, so please contact us at  mpoulter@csctulsa.org with your comments, questions and suggestions.
Visit our website at  csctulsa.org for more valuable data and information on other Community Service Council programs!
 
Disclaimer
Links to non-Federal and Federal organizations are provided solely as a service to our users. These links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by the Community Service Council or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The Community Service Council is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at these links.