Open 211
Social service organizations are as much service providers as they are referral providers: if they can’t help you, they can usually point you elsewhere — to the host of resources available nearby. But for that to work, social service providers must have accurate and comprehensive information. That’s where Open211 fits in. The Open 211 Redirectory is a crowdsourced directory of resources that helps keep service providers connected and up-to-date. Plus, its SMS interface enables individuals to search for resources themselves from wherever they are. As a model for collaboration, Open211 was featured by the White House as an “open data Champion of Change.”
