On May 18 through May 20, 211 LA and the CareSuite team participated in the annual Inform USA Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. The conference brings together Information and Referral professionals, industry experts, technology partners, service providers, and sector leaders from across the country to share knowledge and strengthen the field.
For 211 LA and CareSuite, the conference was an opportunity to connect with national peers, exchange expertise, build relationships across the I&R sector, and highlight our work in service delivery and technology-enabled care coordination.
211 LA was nominated for three awards at this year’s conference:
- The Community Resource Specialist of the Year Award was nominated for Evelyn Ignacio, Community Resource Advisor at 211 LA.
- The Networker of the Year Award was nominated for Andres Colmenares, Community Netword Director.
- The Innovation Award, nominated for 211 LA’s Crisis Care Plan Alliance in the Cooperative Relationships category.
Pictured: Evelyn Ignacio assisting a caller during the early days of 211 LA, known then as InfoLine.
We are proud to share that Evelyn Ignacio was selected as the recipient of the Community Resource Specialist of the Year Award. Evelyn has dedicated more than 42 years to Information and Referral services and was one of 211 LA’s original hires in 1981. Over her career, she has connected hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles County residents to essential resources, including housing, food, health care, disaster relief, mental health, and crisis support.
Evelyn is known for her compassion, professionalism, reliability, and deep knowledge of 211 LA’s work. She supports newer staff by modeling strong call handling, ethical documentation, and thoughtful resource navigation. Her career reflects the evolution of the I&R field, from printed directories and desk phones to today’s digital systems, and her service continues to have a lasting impact on 211 LA and the communities we serve.
211 LA staff also presented on several topics, including taxonomy, health care integration, and medical care coordination.
One session, “The Value of Taxonomy Use in the Healthcare Sector: 211HSIS Contributions to the Gravity Project and Social Drivers of Health,” was presented by Nichole Bonilla, Chiara Cameron-Wood, and Avery Popov. The session highlighted the value of professionally curated databases, the role of service navigation in improving health outcomes, and the importance of 211HSIS contributions to terminology and standards used in the health care sector.
Another presentation, “Leveraging Community Navigation to Drive Medical Case Management,” presented by Avery Popov, focused on how community navigation practices can support screening and enrollment in medical care coordination. Topics included eligibility screening, staff training, and strengthening the connection between calls, assessments, and enrollments.
The third presentation, “Taming the Term-Jungle: A Field Guide to 211HSIS Taxonomy Customization & Smart Indexing,” presented by Nichole Bonilla, Shirley Fulco, and Jennifer Palmer, shared best practices for 211HSIS taxonomy customization and smart indexing. The session covered how to determine which terms should remain active or inactive, how to use targets appropriately, and how to make informed indexing decisions that improve database quality.
The conference was a meaningful opportunity to share 211 LA’s work, recognize the experience and leadership of our team, and learn from partners across the country. It also reinforced the importance of strong I&R systems, trusted data, and practical technology in helping people connect to the support they need.
