After the discontinuation of the local resource directory Look4Help, Franklin County and North Quabbin area resources will be incorporated into 413Cares, a similar resource that traditionally has been more active in Hampshire and Hampden counties.
413Cares (413cares.org) is a regional initiative that serves all of western Massachusetts and is managed by the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, according to Jen Audley of the Franklin Regional Council of Governments.
“Because there is a lot … it’s going to take a few months for that transformation to be complete,” Audley noted.
Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts Building Coalition Manager Liv Anna Homestead said the organization is developing resource pages that are specific to some of the most searched terms on the website such as housing, food, mental health and substance use.
“It’s to help people navigate what’s actually available on 413Cares, and the resources for those categories,” said Homestead.
413Cares has one search bar for keywords and programs, and a second search bar to narrow the search to a particular ZIP code. The website also has a section for COVID-19-related resources.
“We work hard to make [413Cares] full of resources from our local communities,” Homestead said.
Look4Help, which will no longer be updated, launched in 2019 with funding from Baystate Franklin Medical Center’s Community Benefits Advisory Council and Community Action Pioneer Valley. The website listed nearly 1,000 agencies, programs and services at more than 450 locations throughout the area.
“We were able to sustain Look4Help with mostly our own resources for the last five years, but due to pandemic-era funding ending and other pressures on agency resources, we are not able to continue to fund the project,” said Dane Kuttler of Community Action. “When tough decisions needed to be made, we decided it was best to play to our strengths and let the tech folks play to theirs.”
Kuttler said Community Action doesn’t regret setting up Look4Help.
“It was a great experiment in how to manage information and get it to people who needed it,” Kuttler said.
According to Community Action, the directory was created in response to a need for a centralized online tool to facilitate communication of available resources, service information, referrals and a coordination of services between the nonprofit, government, health and human services, medical and mental health sectors.
413Cares will be hosting a few “office hours” for organizations to learn more about how the platform works and to ask questions. The next office hours are scheduled for Thursday, April 6, from noon to 1:30 p.m. To register, visit bit.ly/3U0r42Y.
“In Look4Help’s place,” Kuttler said, “we encourage people to use 413Cares, another website with local resources.”
Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.