On July 1, North Carolina launched this major transition to its Medicaid managed care program, which will impact how millions of North Carolinians receive care. In a nutshell, the Healthy Opportunities Pilot will allow nonprofit human service organizations (HSOs) providing services related to housing, transportation, food, or interpersonal safety to receive Medicaid reimbursement for those services delivered to eligible Medicaid members. 

Dogwood Health Trust, as a Healthy Opportunities Network Lead, has created a new, separate, community-led 501c3, called Impact Health, to manage this work. Impact Health, under the leadership of Executive Director Robyn Hamilton, will spend the upcoming months building its network of human service organizations and developing its capacity and that of regional HSOs to participate in the pilots. NCDHHS anticipates that pilot service delivery will begin in the spring of 2022.

Registration is required. Additional meeting details will be provided with your registration confirmation closer to the event. A review of the CHIP grant template and our funding priorities on our website prior to attending an in-person session is highly recommended.

If you are unable to attend an in-person session (attendance is not required to apply) or want to get a head start on your application, please visit our website for detailed instructions and resources, including a downloadable comprehensive grant template, related to the application process.

Or use the link below to jump directly into our grants management platform:

Innovation Alert: Libraries reach out and touch virtually everyone in their communities across the economic spectrum. The same way libraries brought high-speed Internet to underserved communities, could they also deploy telehealth services to bring affordable healthcare where it is needed most?

"Many people don't understand the biology behind their bodies," said Dr. Jen Gunter in her Body Stuff TED Talk series. "The truth is that when you understand how your systems function, you are able to make better decisions; you're not as prone to fall for hype or pseudo-science."

In late 2019 within our Education priority funding category, Nantahala Health Foundation invested in a greenhouse construction project at Robbinsville High School. This project was designed to address several needs in the community, including teaching some of the area's most vulnerable students self-help and workforce development skills to enable them to be productive, responsible citizens.

"Our school is always striving to provide students with skills that will assist them in making a successful transition to either the workforce or secondary education," said Robert Moody, director of the Graham County Schools Educational Academy. Once greenhouse plants begin to produce fruits and vegetables, students will learn how agriculture work within such a facility can provide food for a community in need, showing them how to be of service to others, Moody continued.

While COVID-19 forced school officials to put greenhouse construction plans on hold for much of 2020, the building is finally taking shape on the school campus. Please join us in congratulating all involved in this innovative approach to educating students and strengthening nutrition systems in Graham County!

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