Lansing - Cities nationwide are adding a new three-digit information number to the existing 911 services - and some Greater Lansing leaders are hoping to follow suit.

Officials say they are exploring the idea of adding the code 211, which connects an individual to a database containing a variety of human service organizations such as mental health services and financial counseling.

Nancy Lindman, Michigan 211 coordinator, said several cities in Michigan already have adopted code. Instead of calling 911, which deals with emergencies, basic questions can be answered by 211. They will be immediately directed to an organization for that need, Lindman said.

Michigan legislators recently added an amendment reserving 211 as a statewide number for a human service phone line. But some leaders fear the program may not reach fruition because of a lack of financing.

No federal or state funding is available for the program, and most cities rely on local grants and corporate donations to get the program running, Lindman said. One organization that showed interest in the program was The Listening Ear, a crisis phone line staffed primarily by volunteers.

But Sean Kennedy, a spokesman for The Listening Ear, said the organization is composed of mostly volunteers and cannot financially support the program.

He said, the organization is not ready to embrace the 211 program yet. “It’s a long road,” he said.

Ann Nieuwenhuis, director of MSU’s Kalamazoo County Extension, said the program has the potential to be beneficial for students. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, “college students were asking, ‘What can I do?’ They were looking for organizations to see what the needs are,” she said.

If 211 was in place, students would have been connected quickly to volunteer services, she said.

“They would have been involved in a teaching line of succession,” she said.

To reach the current Lansing area human services database, visit www.cacvoices.org.

Staff writer Stephanie Korneffel contributed to this report.