If you find yourself in need and don’t know where to turn, 211 is here for you. When you dial that number in Kansas City, a caring Community Resource Specialist (CRS) will answer. And if CRS Glenda Jones picks up, you’re guaranteed to feel her smile, warmth and kindness coming through the line.
“People reach out to 211 in some of their darkest moments, struggling to pay their bills, worried about how they’re going to feed their family. And that can take a toll on our community resource specialists,” said Ayannah Taylor, 211 Quality Assurance and Training Manager. “And they are there to not only provide help to people in our community who need it, but also to each other. And knowing that Glenda is able to do this day in and day out and that she is doing it at such a phenomenal high level and is able to be a light in that time when people are experiencing their darkness, is a story that our community needs to know.”
Glenda has spent many years working in Kansas City’s nonprofit sector. She started with United Way 211 in 2016 in a part-time role, answering calls just one day a week. But after retiring from her other full-time job, she decided 211 would become her new full-time career.
“I could have stayed retired, but I wanted to stay here and do this awesome work,” Jones shared. “Being able to provide resources to people who need them and hearing them be happy about the services and resources they receive—I enjoy doing that. So I’m going to just continue doing it.”
It’s that relentless dedication and her compassion for this vital work that drove colleagues to nominate Glenda for the 211 Frontline Worker of the Year, which was recognized at this year’s WaymakerTM Awards.
“Glenda stood out to us because of her patience, her empathy, and her leadership in the 211 team. Time and time again, when somebody calls in and they talk to Glenda, they get a kind, caring and supportive ear,” said Todd Jordan, PhD, United Way 211 Executive Director and Vice President of Community Impact. “But more than that, the members on our team need help, because let’s face it- when we cover 23 counties, not everybody knows everything, and when they’re like, ‘Hey, I have a question. How do I help this person with this?’ Glenda is one of the first people that reaches out. She not only takes care of the community but helps take care of the team, and it’s that level of leadership as well as support she provides up and down the line that really make her absolutely indispensable.”
For Glenda, there’s a deeply personal reason behind the way she’s able to communicate and convey empathy to those she talks with through 211 each day.
“I’ve been through a lot of struggles myself. I was a single mom and I raised two children. They were real little at the time, and I was just out there trying to pay rent, gas, utilities- it almost makes me want to cry,” Glenda shared. “There were times I was confronted with people that were not compassionate towards me, so I made it a point that I’m not going to be like that. That I want to be able to give kindness back.”
She understands when someone calls 211, they may feel like their back is against the wall and exhausted from their struggles, and she is determined to provide a positive experience.
“I want when someone calls in, I want to be able to let them know that I’m there for them and someone cares,” “I really try to encourage people, too, when I talked to them, and say, ‘Hey, you don’t have to be in this situation forever, you know?’ It all depends on you. You are your own best advocate. So if you can be your own advocate, you can do it.”
Through 211, Community Resource Specialists search through a database of more than 7,000 services, finding just the right connection point for what a caller is looking for. Resources can also be found online at 211KC.org. In 2024, United Way of Greater Kansas City’s 211 operation answered more than 476,000 contacts from phone calls and unique website visits from individuals seeking assistance. The work of 211 would simply not be possible without the community’s generosity.
“You can’t go wrong by supporting and giving and being generous to people that are hurting because it’s going to come back to you and these people,” Glenda said. “We’re never not going to have homeless people. We never not going to have people that are hurting. But when you give, it does something to your heart. You know there’s a movement in your heart that will help you to give even more.”