2-1-1 is a free, non-emergency, confidential, 3-digit phone number and service that provides easy access to housing information, and critical health and human services.

2-1-1 operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with multi-lingual capabilities.
If you are outside Alameda County, call 888-886-9660
For help in San Francisco, San Mateo County or Marin County, call
800-273-6222

Can't dial 2-1-1?

Are you having problems connecting with 2-1-1? In certain situations, some people may be unable to reach our 2-1-1 Call Center. Here are some reasons and what to do:

1. Calling from outside Alameda County:

2-1-1 works in eleven counties in California. If you call 2-1-1 from a county with 2-1-1 service, you will be directed to your local 2-1-1 call center. If you don't live in Alameda County and want information on services in Alameda County, please use our toll-free number: 888-886-9660. Outside California, call 510-727-9560

2. Calling from a Cell Phone

2-1-1 is available through all cell phone carriers. However, if you can't dial 2-1-1 from your phone, call our toll free number: 888-886-9660.

3. Calling from a Workplace

Company internal phone systems (formerly known as PBX-type phone systems) may need to be programmed to allow 2-1-1 to be dialed. If you are unable to access 2-1-1 from your work phone, contact your IT department, and ask them to set up the system to allow 2-1-1 to be dialed. Note: Remember to dial "9" first, if needed, to reach an outside line. Also, you may have to wait longer than usual, up to 10 seconds, after dialing 2-1-1.

4. Calling from Home

2-1-1 may not work correctly with alternate phone providers, such as Vonage, Earthlink or Comcast. Just like 911, you have to report your physical address to these providers, in order for 911 to work correctly. If you can't dial 2-1-1 from home, then call our toll free number: 888-886-9660.

5. Calling from a Pay Phone

You may not be able to dial 2-1-1 from a pay phone if the pay phone provider has not yet programmed 2-1-1 calls to route properly. If you are unable to dial 2-1-1, then call our toll free number: 888-886-9660.

Call us, toll free: 888-886-9660

If you have had any problems calling 2-1-1, we would like to hear about it, so we can solve them for future callers. Please call us at: 888-886-9660 and report the details, including your phone number so our technical people can follow up.