About

First Call For Help’s mission is to make the critical connection between individuals and families seeking health and/or human services and the organizations best able to meet their needs. First Call For Help offers both confidential telephone support to people in crisis and personalized information and referrals to those needing assistance or wishing to contribute to their community

First Call For Help was founded in 1982 by United Way of Morris County to address the confusion and frustration experienced by people in need of help who didn’t know where to go for assistance. In 1995, First Call spun off from United Way as an independent agency and, with the support of United Way of Morris County, continued to serve Morris County. In 1999, First Call began serving Passaic County through the support of United Way of Passaic County.

In January of 2003, 2-1-1 became the new telephone number to reach First Call For Help. This was a great step forward, making it easier for people in Morris and Passaic counties in need to reach out for help. Since 2-1-1 was activated, call volumes have grown dramatically. First Call handled over 10,000 calls in 2004, and expects to double that volume in 2005.

In partnership with local United Ways, First Call For Help's service area expanded to cover Bergen, Union, Essex and Hudson counties during 2003 and 2004. In January 2005, First Call began handling 2-1-1 calls 24 hours daily, and that same month, began making emergency shelter placements in Passaic County in cooperation with Catholic Family Services, the Passaic County Department of Human Services and United Way of Passaic.

In February 2005, 2-1-1 became available throughout New Jersey, a milestone that was jointly announced by the New Jersey 2-1-1 Partnership and the state Department of Human Services at a press conference in Trenton. In May, CONTACT-NNJ, a 20-year-old nonprofit agency affiliated with Lifeline International and 1-800-Suicide, brought its services under the 2-1-1 umbrella by merging its services with First Call for Help. Along with the merger came a cadre of highly trained CONTACT volunteers.