Those struggling with the novel coronavirus have a new resources for assistance.

A multi-group collaboration has produced the Clallam County’s Community Response Help Line, one that any resident of the county who needs help during the COVID-19 pandemic may call at any time, 24 hours a day.

The toll-free number 833-492-0834 connects callers with a live person and supplements the 211 service residents have been using for years (residents may still call 211 to be connected with the same help line).

Also called 833 Clallam County Toll Free, this service can help residents who are isolating and staying home and need help getting food, those needing assistance picking up prescription mediation from the pharmacy, those who are lonely and don’t know how to engage with others while isolating or are experiencing depression or other distress, those who need child care and others.

Service providers and volunteers from across the county who have built a comprehensive database of programs, services and individuals to help in this emergency, county officials note. The toll free line helps residents connect with someone at a call center in Sequim and then either be transferred directly to the appropriate organization or are provided with updated contact information for the community organization best-positioned to provide the assistance that’s needed.

The free phone service is a collaborative effort from the United Way of Clallam County, Clallam County’s emergency management team, Security Services Northwest and scores of volunteers, and organized by Leslee Francis of the Olympic Peninsula Healthy Community Coalition.