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State DHHS chief calls for continued funding of Healthy Opportunities Pilot

By Lightning Reports, Published: June 12, 2025

Sangvai toured and met with representatives from Caja Solidaria, a Hendersonville-based nonprofit that provides fresh foods for Medicaid-eligible families in Henderson and Transylvania counties through the Healthy Opportunities Pilot.

HOP began in 2022 as the nation’s first comprehensive program to test and evaluate the impact of providing select evidence-based, non-medical interventions related to housing, food, transportation and interpersonal safety and toxic stress to high-needs Medicaid enrollees.

As of April 30, 2025, more than 43,000 people were registered in the pilot program and had received more than a million services across 33 counties. Participants in the HOP program visit the emergency room less often, reducing the cost of needed medical care for enrollees by more than a thousand dollars per person, per year.

"The Healthy Opportunities Pilot program proves the best way to lower health care costs and create healthier communities is to reduce the need for medical care in the first place and has changed the lives of thousands of people," Sangvai said. "I know lawmakers in Western North Carolina recognize the incredible impact this program is having, and I am hopeful they are continuing to look for ways to support its future."

Current versions of the North Carolina House and Senate budgets do not include funding for HOP. Without continued funding from the General Assembly, no new services will be possible after June 30, impacting thousands of people in North Carolina. 

Earlier, Sangvai visited Love and Respect Community for Recovery and Wellness to highlight the work of the Hope4NC program, which is delivering critical mental health and substance use disorder support for communities in western North Carolina affected by Hurricane Helene.

Hope4NC crisis counselors on the ground in Western North Carolina have delivered life-saving help to thousands of residents impacted by Hurricane Helene for the past nine months.

"There is no right or wrong way to feel during and after a catastrophic disaster like Hurricane Helene," Sangvai said. "Programs like Hope4NC have been vital to connect people to the care and resources they need when and where they need them."

Between September 2024 and May 2025, Hope4NC has delivered more than 11,300 individual or group counseling services and supportive contacts, more than 200,000 assessments, referrals and media outreach contacts, and answered more than 7,300 calls to their free, confidential 24/7 helpline.

Founded and run by peer support specialists, Love and Respect Community for Recovery and Wellness offers a safe and relaxed setting where individuals struggling with substance abuse or mental health hurdles receive varying levels of support, free of charge.

"Hope4NC has been vital in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene," Love and Respect Executive Director Lexie Wilkins said. "Our community was in shock and had experienced a traumatic event. We engaged many individuals who may have never utilized our resources otherwise. Partners like Hope4NC came in to stabilize and provided access to resources. Sending North Carolina Certified Peer Support Specialists and counselors that our participants could access alongside our services has been life changing. They have given our community a sense of hope."