PA 211 East
One of United Way of Lancaster County’s signature programs, Pennsylvania 211 East (formerly known as LINC), has more than 40 years of experience providing information and referrals for a broad range of services including child care, after-school programs, food banks, elder care, basic needs, health services and more. In 2011, Pennsylvania 211 East was awarded a contract by the Pennsylvania 211 Collaborative to become the call center for seven counties in eastern Pennsylvania due to our record of professional service in Lancaster County.
Currently, services are offered to residents of Berks and Lancaster Counties. In addition to traditional information and referral, we are a central point of intake for housing and homelessness screenings in both counties.
History
1966: The Community Council of Lancaster approved a study committee recommendation that a volunteer service bureau be established in Lancaster County, if suitable funding was obtained. (The Community Council later merged with the Community Chest into the United Way of Lancaster County.)
Later that year, the Junior League of Lancaster approved funding for the Volunteer Service Bureau (VSB) for three years as a pilot project. VSB began operation that year.
Attempts to secure additional funding for the VSB were unsuccessful. The Junior League voted to continue partial funding on a decreasing basis.
1973: Information-Referral and Volunteer Services (IRVS) changed its name to Information and Volunteer Services (IVS)
1975: Information and Volunteer Services (IVS) changed its name to Lancaster INformation Center (LINC)
June 30, 1989 at 11:59pm: Lancaster INformation Center merges with United Way of Lancaster County to become United Way LINC
October 1, 2011: The 3-digit dialing code 211 launches for Berks and Lancaster Counties thanks to United Way of Berks County and United Way of Lancaster County
January 1, 2012: Lehigh and Northampton County residents can now dial 211 thanks to the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley and the County of Northampton
Late 2015: Schuylkill County residents can now call 211 thanks to the support from Schuylkill United Way
January 1, 2019: Carbon and Lebanon County residents can now call 211 thanks to the support of the United Way of Greater Lehigh Valley and United Way of Lebanon County
July-October 2025: Coverage for Carbon, Lebanon, Lehigh, Northampton and Schuylkill Counties ended upon a realignment of our East-Region contact center; Coverage continues for Berks and Lancaster Counties
