First Call For Help

County Information Line Established

RIO GRANDE - For many members of the public knowing where to find help for a problem at a •public agency or social service can be a confusing and sometimes frustrating

experience.

With the burgeoning mmjber of social services that have sprouted over the past decade, corjelating the right agency with a specific case can fa«a trcky business for' the

uninitiated.

To clear the confusion , "First Call For Help,” a unique countywide information and referral service, has been initiated. Hhe special phone service, funded by the United Way, the Cape May County. Board of Chosen Freeholders and the New

♦ Jersey Division of the

FIRST CALL FOR HELP interviewer researcher David Quintan shows and^Farnily 0 " Services off the new countywide information and referral service new (DYFS) is the first of its

headquarters. ** /

kind in the state.

Candidates Begin To Campaign InEarnest

by Kathleen Cox Schaeffer With the Cape May County general Section just seven weeks away, local candidates vying for one Lower Township Committee, one county Freeholder and two General Assembly seats have kicked their campaigns into high gear. When voters go to the K ite November 6 they will presented with a salto that pits Lower Township incumbent mayor Robert Park (D.) against Republican Jack Moran and Republican Independent Franklin L. Halbruner in the committee race. On the county level, Frank Murphy (D.) and Republican Jack Bittner head off for outgoing Freeholder Thomas Tucker’s place. Democrats Randy Wilhelm and Jerry Livingston have squared off against long-time incombents Jrfmes R. Hurley and Joseph Chinnici (both Republicans) for the District 1 General Assembly Seat for Cape May-Cumberland County. „ The campainging pace has picked up day by day and most candidates who

talked to the Herald ancT Lantern in telephone interviews this week, detailed jam-packed schedules from here to

election day.

General Assembly Can-

didates

Campaigning hard for the General Assembly on the Democratic ticket are Randy Wilhelm and Jerry Livingston. •Wilhelm and Livingston arc running as a team hoping to dislodge incumbents Assemblymen Hurley and Chinnici. The Assembly race is Wilhemlm’s first time out as a political candidate through ‘Tve been involved in politics all my life," he said. A Vineland native and current of vfhfit city, Wilhelm has served as a Democratic city chairman. He also managed N.J. Senator Bill Hughes reelec tion campa ign. Wtthelm works with a tcchnicial campaigning services firm in Vineland. Criticizes Incumbents His decision to run for Assembly was predicated by a conviction that the incumbents wete not doing a good enough job.

"Hurley and Chinnici are far overrated in their votegetting k%litie8," Wilhelm said. •)They hjfl| always taken a behind the scenes role in various political cam-

"They don’t have a record to show for their 20 years (combined) in

Assembly."

Wilhelm had always taken a behind the scenes role in various political campaigns. After complaining long and loud that someone should come out against Hurley and Chinnici, his County Democratic Chairman suggested he "itit up or shut up," Wilhelm said. 'Early Campaifpi Wilhelm and Livingston began campaigning 200 days before the election,

Wilhelm said.

The pair spent the summer touring factories, meeting the public at picnics and mounting a vigorous press c^npaign. They are gearing up for a continuous round of personal appearances and hope to meet as much of the voting public as possible. •‘The people realize their voice hasn't been heard in

Trenton and that South Jersey is not getting a fait* shake," Wilhelm contended. Wilhelm Platform Top priorities on the Wilhelnr-Livingston platform include auto insurance reform, a better dredging program for area inlets, all facets of the energy problem, continuance of the State Commission of Investigation (SCI) and a better way of life for area seniors. “We fully intend to represent Cape may County in the campaign ' Pago IS Please) _

First Call, hqused in the Social Services Center, Rio Grande, is not a crisis line. Callers will be referred to professional counseling services, according to individual needs, however. "We will 'be linking people who have a need and really don't know where to turn to agencies (hat can best help them; David Quinlan, First Call intervIe*/li|r*esearoher, said. "We don’t do counseling, but we make surg people get the help they need," he .added. Starts November I The service is currently open for calls at 729-2255 but will not M fully operational until Nov. 1. The first two months of operation will be engaged in collecting and indexing comprehensive information on all services which are available to the people of Cape May County. The date will be maintained in a microcomputer system for convenience and ease of access and updating. The new service will fulfill a threefold purpose: provide general information about agencies and services, refer callers to individual services and help them make important contacts and pinpoint needs in the county that are not being met by existing agencies. Confidentiality Assured. Complete confidentiality is assured on the service. First Call interviewers will call ahead to agencies to provide additional assistance if desired. “I would try to follow through on some cases, but there is no pressure," Quinlan said. i "We’re just a tool, just a facilitator. We'll stick with the person." he added. First Call of Help with its vast computerized knowledge of local, county and state agencies and

services will help callers with a spectrum of queries Spectrum of Information They will dispense information on anything from where to take a sick pet for treatment and how to obtain a copy of a lost birth certificate to aiding victims of wife abuse and unemployment. In addition, First Call can steer *■ caller to the most Effective agency for consumer complaints .on a product where to' find classes on natural childbirth or how to obtdin financial counseling. "I don’t want to convey to you that we’re out there saving the world," Quinlan said. "We’ll be giving a lot of information." Prevents f

♦ Saving the world they may not be, but preventing confusion, frustration and a waste of both the caller and agency’s time, should result from First Call’s assistance. Previously some persons seeking agency assistance could possibly “fall through the cracks” not knowing which of the many available services would best fit their needs. "Tbe reluctance to try again comes when you've been through three agencies without the desired, results," Quinlan said. Tbough many agencies now have their own referral systems, The First Call For Help will act as a coordinator of information, plugging callers into the right agency and viceversa. "It helps the agencies too — it prevents some confusion and time wasting," Quinlan said. First Call will provide “better access to the agencies for the public," he added. (Page 15 Please)

Advent Of Autumn Sunday This Sunday, Sept. 23 at 11:17 a m. (Daylight Savings Time) Summer 1979 will officially dissolve into Autumn. Autumn, that nether world somewhere between summer and winter brings harvests, crisp days and early dusks...and yet a while before Winter lifts her icy head. "Why can’t summer last longer. Mommy?" the little boy asked. "Ah. it was just not meant be. The sequence of Time goes on; it was preordained a long time ago." the mo|her replied. There is an order to all things and to all seasons. What was budding in the springtime is garbed in brilliance at autumn before it flutters away 6 changes away & changes into another form. The harvest is nigh now. A beautiful season is upon us. Let us rejoice in its ancestral festival. —Liz Wftnds