211 Maryland

When you do not know which Maryland program to call, dial 2-1-1. An Information and Referral Specialist answers and helps you find local help: food, housing and shelter, utility assistance, mental health, substance use, crisis intervention, healthcare, legal services, veterans' resources, and more. It is free, with no income limits to call.

Maryland 211 runs around the clock, every day of the year, so it is there at 2 a.m. as much as 2 p.m. English and Spanish specialists answer directly, with phone translation available in more than 150 languages, and deaf or hard-of-hearing callers can reach it by dialing 7-1-1 for Maryland Relay.

The call is simple. Tell the specialist what is going on, and they assess your needs and connect you to resources near you, instead of leaving you to guess. There is no phone-tree runaround; you reach a live person.

Know what 211 is and is not. It refers; it does not pay bills itself. The money sits with local agencies and funds, and 211's value is knowing which of them near you have money or open intake right now, which changes month to month.

You can also help yourself. Text a keyword to 898-211 to enroll in ongoing text support, or search the resource database yourself at search.211md.org any hour. The online catalog is the same one the specialists use.

Pair 211 with the statewide front doors: MarylandBenefits.gov for food and cash help, Maryland Health Connection for coverage, and the District Court Help Center for eviction questions. For a suicidal or mental health crisis, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, instead, any hour.