Navigating resources in North Idaho is getting easier.

Resources abound in North Idaho, but that doesn’t guarantee people can or will find them.

The North Idaho Family Group, in partnership with Strengthening Families, St. Vincent de Paul Coeur d’Alene, Community Action Partnership, Heritage Health, Idaho Department of Labor, Panhandle Health District, and Citilink is making it easier for families to access the resources they need most.

The North Idaho Services Directory launched in 2016, providing immediate & basic needs resources by category & location. It is used by the public & first responders to access resources across multiple categories in one location, such as health, housing, jobs, food, and transportation. Still, with hundreds of listings, finding the right resource for a specific situation can be a challenge.

Introducing … ICONS and CONTACTS

The Strengthening Families group designated seven MAIN categories: Housing, Food, Health & Well-being, Jobs, Legal, Transportation, and Community. (Education may be added as well).

For each main category, a local organization or agency was designated as the “Primary Contact,” e.g. Heritage Health for the Health & Well-being category. These organizations are available by phone to assist clients navigate to and locate the best services for their needs.

Current, Consistent, Collaboration

An important added benefit to the collaboration with multiple agencies is that it will greatly assist in keeping the online services directory (NIservicesDirectory.com) CURRENT, which has been a major hurdle for other print and online resources.

Further, partner agencies such as Heritage Health will use these same icons in print materials and messaging to their clients, so that our community becomes familiar with the icons, contacts, and message.

Shelly Zollman, Director of the North Idaho Family Group, is “excited at the prospect that agencies see the benefit of working together, not duplicating services, and leveraging resources.”

Visit the online directory at: www.niservicesdirectory.com