United Appeal for Athens County, a local non-profit organization asked the Athens County Commissioners for funding to help maintain services at a meeting Tuesday.
United Appeal provides the Athens County 211 service, a database containing information about more than 1,000 local, state and federal services, like Big Brothers Big Sisters of Athens County or Live Healthy Appalachia. It can be accessed by telephone, web search or distributed printed lists.
The 211 service began about five years ago and has been funded by public and private donations, said Pam Harvey, executive director of United Appeal for Athens County.
Now, the 211 service needs more funding to sustain its activities in Athens County, said Harvey, who asked the commissioners for $10,000 for the 2014 year.
“It’s important to maintain this service for the community infrastructure,” Harvey said.
Commissioner Lenny Eliason said the commissioners would consider providing more money to the 211 service when creating the budget for 2014.
Eliason added that there is a “slim chance” for the service to actually get funding because there are mandated services that are higher on the county’s list of priorities.
“We’ll look at it for the budget and see if there are any alternatives,” said Eliason, adding that if the service entered into a contract with another agency, like the Athens County Jobs and Family Services or the 911 Center, then funding the service would move up on the list of priorities.
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