Sacramento County’s 211 helpline is bracing for an unprecedented wave of calls as approximately 270,000 county residents face delayed CalFresh benefits due to the federal government shutdown. With the disruption affecting 5.5 million Californians statewide, information and referral services are seeing call volumes spike even before November’s benefits fail to arrive.
“People have already heard that their services are going to be affected and they’re already calling us,” said Tim Giuliani, Executive Director of Connecting Point, which operates 211 services for Placer and Nevada counties. “We’re already receiving an uptick in CalFresh-related phone calls.”
211 is a free, confidential service that connects callers to local social and health resources. Available 24 hours a day, it helps residents find food, housing, healthcare, and other essential support. In Sacramento and neighboring counties, trained specialists answer calls and maintain databases of verified community programs, including CalFresh application assistance and food pantries.
Sacramento and Yolo county’s 211 provider, Community Link Capital Region, has already experienced an increase in call volume. The service has seen significant growth in recent years, with calls jumping 28.9% from 2023 to 2024, reaching 203,961 by the end of last year.
Gabriel Kendall, Executive Director of Community Link Capital Region, said the organization is projecting approximately 275,000 inbound calls by year’s end if current trends continue. “Call volume is at an all-time high. The need is at an all-time high, and there are quite frankly less resources accessible, so it’s going to have some really significant impacts,” Kendall said.
The timing couldn’t be worse. Food assistance requests to Sacramento County’s 211 have already shown recent volatility, with food-related calls climbing throughout October. Among those seeking food help, 45.8% requested food pantry information during that most recent week.
“Because of the shutdown, at this time CalFresh benefits will not be funded for the month of November,” said Janna Haynes, Sacramento County Public Information Manager. “In Sacramento County 270,000 people rely on those food benefits to feed themselves and their family. Thousands of children will be affected by the loss of food benefits in November.”
The challenge for 211 operators is managing increased demand without additional resources. “We would love to ramp up staffing to handle that call volume, but the funding is not there to support it,” Kendall explained. “We’re basically being tasked with doing more with less resources.”
Instead of hiring additional staff, 211 services are planning to shuffle staffing to handle increased call volume. “I hope it looks like nothing,” Giuliani said when asked about potential longer wait times. “I hope that’s an internal management thing that we can solve.”
Placer County Health and Human Services is also anticipating the surge. “We are expecting increased phone and foot traffic volume as customers experience benefit loss,” said Katie Combs Prichard, the agency’s communications manager. Placer County serves 29,000 individuals receiving CalFresh across 17,000 households, with September benefits totaling an estimated $5.3 million.
While 211 operators encourage people to call the three-digit number, they’re also directing residents to alternative resources to manage demand. Much of the information available by calling 211 can be found on 211.org, allowing people to search for services themselves.
Sacramento nonprofit Alchemist CDC also maintains an interactive map of food providers in the area.
Governor Gavin Newsom has announced $80 million in fast-tracked state funding for food banks and plans to deploy the California National Guard to support food distribution, mirroring the state’s pandemic response when it distributed 800 million meals.
“Trump’s failure isn’t abstract — it’s literally taking food out of people’s mouths,” Newsom said in a statement. “This is serious, this is urgent — and requires immediate action.”
Local food banks are expected to see increased demand. Kendall said coordination efforts between the county and providers should help them rise to the challenge by keeping resource information up to date. “I’m hopeful that with that coordination and that influx of support resources, there will be the ability to rise up to this wave of need,” he said.
Both 211 operators stressed the importance of CalFresh recipients continuing to complete renewal paperwork, even if November benefits are delayed.
“This is not a situation where people’s benefits are over,” Kendall emphasized. “It’s a delay because of the government shutdown. We really want to encourage people to complete that SAR-7, complete their renewals to make sure that they’re staying enrolled for when the program turns back on.”
There is no estimated date when benefits will resume. However, recipients who still have funds on their EBT cards can use them as normal, though benefit amounts will not reload in the new month.
Residents needing food assistance or other support services can call 211 any time, day or night, to speak with a live operator, or text their ZIP code to 898211 for text-based assistance. The service maintains a database of nearly 3,000 available services, ranging from food pantries to housing assistance and healthcare resources.
“If you have questions about your services or any community resource in general, I would encourage you to pick up the phone and dial 211,” Giuliani said. “We look forward to talking to those that do call.”
Greg Micek is a Northern California-based journalist and Newsroom Producer at CapRadio. CapRadio is a partner of The Intersection and CVJC.