Bob Hamm

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On these telephones you can hear the heartbeat of Acadiana. You

can feel the pulse of the community as people turn to the South

west Louisiana Education and Referral Center in times of need. In

its 24-hour-a-day operation, 232-HELP responds to calls from

people contemplating suicide, from frightened, pregnant young

girls, from families without food or shelter, from homes where

children are being abused. There are calls concerning medical

problems like cancer, epilepsy, venereal diseases, and others.

Inquiries are made about help for psychiatric problems, substance

abuse and developmental disabilities.

A person in need cannot afford a wheelchair...a family in

trouble doesn't know where to turn for counseling. The list of

calls is as varied as the number of problems which beset our

society today. And, with crisp efficiency, The Southwest Louisi

ana Education and Referral Center is able to provide answers...to

point the way to help.

And along with this vital service, 232-HELP--as a first responder

to human needs, sees early signs and trends as new problems of a

community wide nature develop. In case after case, the agency

has recognized from the volume of calls a major need going un-met

in the community and has spearheaded efforts to develop resources

for meeting the need.

It has taken the faith of the community and the cooperation of

people with special skills to develop programs like those in

which opthamologists provide eye examinations for the elderly,

more facilities have been developed for the mentally retarded,

transportation is provided to medical facilities for those who

cannot afford it and medication acquired for those who would

otherwise have to do without.

When drug abuse began growing toward epidemic proportions, it was

SLERC which, early on, recognized the need for and worked

toward the establishment of rehabilitation facilities and awa

renes and education programs.

Through SLERC's leadership, Programs have been launched which

resulted in establishment of agencies like Home Health Aide,

Recovery Inc., Family Planning, Hospice, Rape Crisis, Child

Abuse Centers and others.

The need for these community resources was recognized initially

by the Southwest Louisiana Education and Referral Center...and

the efforts of the people of 232-HELP was the impetus for their

establishment.

In 1973, SLERC provided organization and guidance for the estab

lishment of a chapter of the Louisiana Epilepsy Association in

Lafayette. Individual and family counseling became available in o13

an eight parish area, and 2,208 calls and cases were handled by

the chapter, with counseling for 270 persons. The Epilepsy

chapter has now given way to the Epilepsy Task Force which con

tinues to provides services to victims of epilepsy and their

families, to promote public education and research concerning

sy, and in many other ways, make life better for epilepsy

victims.

In 1976, a program designed for the developmentally disabled

was implemented by SLERC, to provide diagnostic and follow up

services for those with such disabilities who did not have pri

vate resources and did not qualify for the services of the Chari

ty Hospital System. Handicapping conditions included mental

retardation, tonic clonic and absence seizures, dyslexia and

cerebral palsy. Case Management Advocacy Services established in

1979 not only provides services like case management, outreach,

information referral, follow-along, direct services and advocacy,

but also identifies gaps in services and provides assistance in

eliminating barriers to services to the developmentally disabled.

From 232-HELP and the Daily Advertiser has come the Milk Fund,

which in one year provides milk for as many as 85,000 needy

people, and HELPLINE, through which legitimate needs of those

experiencing financial hardship, certified by the Southwest

Louisiana Education and Referral Center, are made known to the

public. In most cases, the community responds with generous

assistance.

Project RX, designed so that pharmacy customers may round off

payment for their purchases to the next highest dollar amount,

with the extra change going toward the purchase of drugs and

medicines for those who cannot afford to fill their doctor's pre

scriptions.

Operation Venus, which involves all the urologists and gynecolo

gists in the community in the battle against venereal

disease...Contact--an extension of the ministry which, among

other services, stands by in the late hours to talk to people

contemplating suicide...SLERC's Medical Loan Closet, which makes

available over 258 different medical appliances, such as wheel

chairs...and an extensive program of outreach, counseling, fol

low-along and advocacy for victims of epilepsy, mental retarda

tion, autism, cerebral palsy and dyslexia.

The Southwest Louisiana Education and Referral Center not

only arranges for free, anonymous pregnancy testing, but also for

counseling referral and specialized services for all women con

cerned with possible pregnancy.

The first medical program at the Lafayette Juvenile Deten

tion Home resulted from the efforts of the Southwest Louisiana

Education and Referral Center. Community-spirited physicians and

dentists visit the detention home once a week at no charge. All

new admissions are given a physical examination and any treatment o13

needed. SLERC obtains all medication and equipment needed for

treatment, arranges pregnancy testing and other medical lab work,

provides ambulance service if necessary, and conducts programs on

sexually transmitted diseases.

The Southwest Louisiana Education and Referral Center provides

the framework through which professionals who care are able to

provide services to the needy. Campaign of Concern was launched

in January of 1981 as a preventive dentistry outreach program in

schools, vocational centers and residential facilities serving

the neurologically disabled.

In 1988, Donated Dental Services was launched, providing free

dental treatment for the needy elderly, handicapped or medically

compromised.

In addition, there is a Dental Care for the Needy Program which

assists those who do not meet the eligibility requirements of

Charity Hospital, but cannot pay regular dental fees.

While dentists volunteer their time and skills, dental labs

donate dentures, crowns and other items.

The Center has lead the way in the establishment of support

groups for people with physical or emotional problems...in the

establishment of a highly successful organ donor awareness pro

gram...in continuing education programs for the medical communi

ty...and other vital community resources and services too numer

ous to mention.

In the uncertain days of the launching of Operation Desert

Shield, SLERC spearheaded the organization of support groups for

families of military personnel involved in the Gulf War.

In 1977, SLERC introduced Tel-Med--a library of taped messages on

vital health subjects, carefully selected to help in the recogni

tion of the early signs of illness, and to help victims and

families adjust to serious illnesses. Today, Tel-Med is totally

computerized with a highly advanced system which was the third of

its kind installed in the nation. In a 24-hour day of operation,

the system can do the work of an estimated 96 Information Spe

cialists.

Along with Tel-Med, The Southwest Louisiana Education and Refer

ral Center offers tapes dealing with mental and emotional prob

lems, as well as Tel-Law, a library of tapes providing informa

tion on legal matters.

This is the commmunity wide picture. But the day-to-day task is

one of meeting individual or family needs. Our area is blessed

with caring, professional agencies working with expertise, dedi

cation and compassion to meet these needs. But when one is in

need of help--perhaps confused and anxious--how does one deter

mine which of the many avenues leads to the solution to his or

her particular personal problem. How long must it take and how

many phone calls and visits must be made before the right door

opens and help is found?

And how much valuable time is wasted by those providers of help

ful services when they must stop their work to answer the pleas

of people needing help of a kind they are not set up to

provide...people who have not found the right door.

And how often are resources squandered when well-intentioned

individuals or organizations duplicate an existing service rather

than attacking a need that has not yet been met?

These are the questions Southwest Louisiana asked itself over a

quarter of a century ago. As the questions were addressed, an

idea was born. And from that idea has grown an agency which has

become the vehicle through which our area's concern for the needs

of others is given substance and structure. The agency is the

Southwest Louisiana Education and Referral Center, where a staff

of caring professionals has brought not only dedication, but also

organization and efficiency to the meeting of human needs. One

door...which leads quickly and efficiently to the service o13

needed...the help sought.

The Southwest Louisiana Education and Referral Center, which most

of us know better by it's community service hotline phone number,

232-HELP, was Louisiana's first comprehensive community referral

center in the fields of health and social services. As a member

agency of Acadiana's United Way, It continues to be a leader in

that field--not only in Louisiana, but nationwide as well.

What is the Southwest Louisiana Education and Referral Center?

Basically, it is a central, informational clearinghouse, designed

to remove the frustration and disappointment of long, heart-

breaking quests for help by people who do not know where to look

for the assistance they need. Very simply, a person who needs

help dials 232-HELP...and the process is set in motion. Profes

sionals assess the problem, determine the need, and through vast

informational resources, guide the caller to the place where help

for that particular need is available.

The Southwest Louisiana Education and Referral Center is designed

also to help those organizations which provide services to oper

ate more efficiently by freeing them of the need to deal with

people they cannot help, so they can devote their energies and

resources to those they can.

The education and referral center functions smoothly and quietly

in the community--and few realize the dramatic impact it has on

the lives of all of us. Since its inception, over 1.3 million

calls have been answered. In its files are thousands of poignant

stories of our neighbors in need...and of how a single call to

232-HELP brought to bear in their behalf the caring services of a

compassionate community.

We have tried here to give you an overview of an agency which is

so vast in scope that few people realize its enormous impact on

the daily lives of the people of this community...like the home

less old man in need of a nursing home...a parent whose daughter

was threatening suicide...a young girl being molested by her

father...a family in need of dental assistance for their mentally

retarded, cerebral palsied son...a husband whose wife had become

hysterical and violent...these are actual cases, selected at

random. They are among the 1,315,983 calls received by The

Southwest Louisiana Education and Referral Center from its incep

tion until the beginning of this year.

We've talked about the efficient, business-like operation which

makes the caring work. You need to know that the value of in-

kind services to the community in a single year exceeds three

million dollars. And this excludes 16 major sources for which no

cost estimates are available. The Southwest Louisiana Education

and Referral Center gives back almost $16 for every dollar given

to support its services.

But still, at the base, at the heart of the operation, is the

meeting of human needs. A caring voice on the telephone support

ed by a massive capacity to give assistance, direction and hope.

In this remarkable agency there is a mixture of compassion and

business-like efficiency which gives substance and strength to

the caring nature of our community.