On January 1, 2003, First Call for Help opened its doors to a select group of agencies in the Jackson area including Catholic Charities, a local counseling and outreach provider. First Call for Help referred callers to area agencies that provided prescription expense assistance, and other services as needed.

By fall of 2003, First Call for Help hired its first full-time Information and Referral Specialist to join the Call Center Coordinator in expanding their services to all Jackson County residents and agencies.

During the holiday season of 2003, First Call for Help received an average of 45 calls per day. In response to the high call volume, the call center added another part-time Information and Referral Specialist to the staff, by which time the call volume was in the neighborhood of 200 calls per week.

In December 2004, First Call for Help became an official 2-1-1 call center, and reopened its doors as Jackson County 2-1-1. During this transition period, the call volume reached a record high of 1875 calls in one month.

In 2005, Jackson County 2-1-1 partnered with Community Action Agency to serve as the central intake and scheduling site for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Through this program, Jackson County 2-1-1 linked over 1336 individuals to the VITA program.

In the fall of 2005, Jackson County 2-1-1’s former manager spent two weeks serving as supervisor at a call center for Hurricane Katrina relief in Louisiana. This experience not only helped those in need of disaster relief services, but also gave Jackson County 2-1-1 a first hand look at the necessity of local disaster preparedness.

Jackson County 2-1-1 partnered with Community Action Agency once again to assist with the intake and scheduling for the VITA program in 2006. During this time, Jackson County 2-1-1 successfully connected over 1815 people to the VITA program.

During 2006, Jackson County 2-1-1 (currently a program of the United Way of Jackson County and LifeWays) partnered with Capital Area United Way and Hillsdale County United Way to expand 2-1-1 service to a larger region.

In August 2006, Jackson County 2-1-1 received approval from the Michigan Alliance of Information and Referral Systems and the Michigan 2-1-1 to expand to a regional call center. This regionalization brought 2-1-1 services to an additional four counties: Clinton, Eaton, Hillsdale and Ingham.    

On March 27, 2007 Jackson County 2-1-1 became Central Michigan 2-1-1 when the program kicked off service to Clinton, Eaton & Ingham Counties. This new name reflects our multi-county partnership.

On February 11, 2008 Central Michigan 2-1-1 kicked off service to Hillsdale County.

In 2008 Central Michigan 2-1-1 kicked off service in both Lenawee and Livingston Counties.