Not sure where to turn?

211 is a free, confidential, 24 hour, 7 day a week, 365 days a year information and referral helpline connecting individuals and families to available health and human services.

211 is the number to call when you don’t know who to call in times of crisis or everyday need. By talking a situation through with a trained specialist, you may find the help you never knew existed.

Kane County residents can connect to a wide range of services by phone or text, and a LIVE specialist will guide them to the help they need regardless of the time of day or the language they speak. Help is available in over 150 languages. Just ask!

211 provides access to critical services:

• Shelter and rent assistance
• Legal, immigration, and public safety
• Supplemental food programs
• Utility assistance
• Addiction support and rehabilitation
• Crisis counseling
• Employment and education support
• Healthcare and mental health
• Financial support
• Transportation
• Disaster
• Services specific to senior citizens or persons with disabilities
….and much more!

The numbers are in for 211 calls throughout the 2025 year: Illinois 211 call centers fielded nearly 200,000 calls, with the largest numbers of assistance calls coming for housing & shelter (43%), utilities (14%), employment & income (8%), and food & meals (6%).

Kane County 211 responded to over 4,700 calls, although in a slightly different distribution. In Kane County just like throughout the state, the number one reason for calls was for assistance with housing & shelter (39%) followed by information services (18%), utilities (10%), employment/income (6%), and support services (5%).

Specifically in Batavia, the top reason for calls is consistent with the county and state numbers with housing assistance garnering the most calls (13%), followed by utility assistance (10%), temporary financial assistance (6%), and low income/subsidized housing (5%).

What this tells us is that there continues to be a need for affordable housing and utility support. The top needs as identified by 211 callers have to do with financial stability. Most of the unmet needs had to do with housing and utility support throughout both Kane County and Batavia.

Explore the data yourself here: https://211illinois.org/data/

See below for examples of what 211 does for callers!