Napa County residents will soon be able to contact an array of community services — for emergency or everyday needs — with one phone call.

A local 2-1-1 phone service will serve as a local link to emergency shelter and food, earthquake crisis information, rental assistance, unemployment benefits and a plethora of other services. Volunteers may also call 2-1-1 to be connected with agencies to which they want to donate time or services. The directory is slated to be up and running by the end of the year.

The California Public Utilities Commission granted a license to the United Way of the Bay Area earlier this month, approving the system for Napa County, according to a press release.

Randy Snowden, director of Napa County Health and Human Services and a member of the 2-1-1 Napa Committee, said the program will alleviate strain on the 911 system and put human services within closer reach.

Snowden said while local establishments currently have resource directories, people often don’t know which organization to call for specific needs.

The multilingual phone service, slated to become available to Napa County residents by the end of 2007, was first launched in Atlanta, Ga. in 1997, and serves about 163 million Americans, a press release stated.

“It’s going to be a great tool to help connect the vulnerable population in the county with a huge range of local resources. Everybody’s got a telephone and a lot of people are more used to using the phone than going on the Internet. And a lot of people don’t like going to government offices,” Snowden said.

Kris Jaeger, 2-1-1 Napa Committee chairwoman and board member of the United Way of the Bay Area, said the local implementation of the 2-1-1 phone service will be an important and cost-effective tool for residents.

“I think it’s crucial to Napa County because 2-1-1 will connect people in Napa County to Health and Human Services, resources and volunteer opportunities 24 hours a day,” Jaeger said, adding that nationwide the program is available to more than 65 percent of Americans.

About half of the annual cost of the system — roughly $120,000 — will come from the United Way and the remainder will come from donations, Jaeger said.

“By dialing 2-1-1 the caller is saved seven phone calls on average,” she said.

When the program is implemented in Napa County, it should aid about 6,500 Napans each year, according to a press release.

Napa County residents can reach the service now at (800) 273-6222; text telephone users should call (415) 808-4440.

For more information about the 2-1-1 phone service, visit www.211bayarea.org.