New Washington Phone Hotline Serves People Struggling With COVID-19 Issues
READ ON
The state of Washington has opened a new statewide toll-free telephone hotline for people who are struggling during the Covid pandemic.
One of the partners is Spokane’s Frontier Behavioral Health, where Kelli Miller is chief administrative officer.
The new Washington Listens line for people struggling with Covid-related issues is funded by a federal emergency management grant.
“The goal of the Washington Listens line is to be available to anybody, professionals, essential workers, people that don’t normally seek services, really anybody who just needs that additional support and access to resources that they wouldn’t have normally needed,” Miller said.
She says the hotline was created by the state with federal disaster relief money. It’s open from 9 am-9 pm during the week and 9 am-6 pm on the weekends. Some participating agencies are hiring and training people to answer phones; others rely on existing staff members.
At least three of the seven partners serve Native people: Spokane’s American Indian Community Center and the Colville and Swinomish Tribes.
“Lots of our tribal partner agencies have a lot more resources and knowledge about something that’s impacting those communities very differently than others that are not so enmeshed in that,” Miller said.
The Washington Listens line number is 1-833-681-0211.
Copyright 2020 Spokane Public Radio. To see more, visit spokanepublicradio.org
Related Stories:
As a federal government shutdown looms, Washington state officials brace for impact
The U.S. Capitol Building in Washington D.C. (Courtesy: Creative Commons) Read By Jeanie Lindsay / Northwest News Network As federal lawmakers race against the clock to keep the government running,
COVID-19 Deaths Much Higher In Washington’s Republican Counties, Analysis Shows
COVID-19 related deaths are trending much higher in Republican counties than in Democratic ones in Washington. That’s according to a new legislative analysis.
Community Immunity Is In Reach For Some Northwest Cities And Counties, Further Away For Others
Hesitancy to get vaccinated against the coronavirus has justifiably drawn considerable attention because some counties and neighborhoods are lagging far behind in the campaign to stamp out COVID-19. Less often do you hear about the COVID-19 vaccination overachievers. In recent weeks, pockets of the Pacific Northwest have exceeded the threshold for community immunity.
