HILLSBORO, Ohio — Highland County residents can now dial 211 to be connected with local food, housing, health care and other assistance resources, according to the Highland County Health Department.
The three-digit number, similar to how 911 routes emergency calls, is a free and confidential service that operates around the clock, every day of the year. Callers who dial, text or search online reach trained navigators who assess a resident’s needs and connect them with agencies that can help, including food and clothing banks, homeless shelters, rent and utility assistance, health insurance and Medicaid enrollment help, counseling and crisis intervention, job training and transportation assistance.
Ohio 211 reached full statewide coverage in February 2026, when the nonprofit that coordinates the service extended its network of regional call centers into the state’s remaining counties, according to Ohio 211. The private membership organization, which grew out of a coalition of information and referral providers founded in 1978, now coordinates 13 regional call centers that together field close to 800,000 contacts a year.
The 211 designation was authorized nationally by the Federal Communications Commission in 2000, and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approved its use in Ohio the following year, capping more than two decades of work by local information and referral agencies to establish a single, statewide number.
The Highland County Health Department, which has served county residents since 1920, encouraged residents to make use of the new resource. The department, based on North High Street in Hillsboro, also provides birth and death certificates, food safety licensing and inspections, child and adult immunizations, and communicable disease monitoring, among other public health services.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Highland County Health Department and Ohio 211.
