I just wanted to reach out & provide some feedback that was just shared with me by one of my members that I referred for the HOP Program. The member actually called me to tell me how thankful they were that we were able to refer them for this program. The member stated the following: “I am absolutely overwhelmed with joy to the point that I can’t even describe how this feels. Even my three year old was so excited to open this box to find milk and apples.”

A single mother had been staying at a local shelter with her children but needed life-saving surgery. Her children couldn’t remain in the shelter without her, which left her in an impossible position. Mom had secured an emergency housing voucher, but it wasn’t enough to cover rent in the county where she would be receiving treatment. Through the Healthy Opportunities Pilots, her care managers were able to help her transfer her housing voucher and secure income based housing near the hospital. They also helped her access financial support for her security deposit and utility setup fees – all services that are covered for the Healthy Opportunities Pilots participants. Now, mom can focus on her health, schedule needed medical care, and keep her family together under one roof with help from her friends and the Healthy Opportunities Pilots.

A member needed help with their power bill (was literally down to just a few dollars on power stat). She takes care of her disabled son and is on disability herself so a very fixed income. She drives her son to doctor and therapy appointments and ended up needing new brakes on the car. After paying for the brakes she didn’t have enough money to pay her power bill. We got her bill paid for her. When I called her to tell her she told me that she doesn’t know who the HOP people are because she has never seen any of them – she has only spoken to them on the phone. She stated that she could just sense through the phone that everyone involved were angels. She expressed so much gratitude to everyone she had spoken to throughout the process. 

Following the death of his father, a child enrolled in Medicaid was placed under the guardianship of his grandmother, who moved into her recently deceased son’s home to care for her grandson. Soon after moving into the home, she learned there was an outstanding utility bill of $1,000. 

The grandmother found herself two months behind on payment and at risk of having the utilities cutoff. A care manager referred the child’s grandmother for utility assistance through the Healthy Opportunities Pilots, which was approved for $500, the full amount allowed. This assistance cut the total bill in half and drastically reduced the financial burden and stress on the child and his grandmother.

A single mother had been staying at a local shelter with her children but needed life-saving surgery. Her children couldn’t remain in the shelter without her, which left her in an impossible position. Mom had secured an emergency housing voucher, but it wasn’t enough to cover rent in the county where she would be receiving treatment.

Through the Healthy Opportunities Pilots, her care managers were able to help her transfer her housing voucher and secure income-based housing near the hospital. They also helped her access financial support for her security deposit and utility setup fees – all services that are covered for the Healthy Opportunities Pilots participants.

Now, mom is able to focus on her health, schedule needed medical care, and keep her family together under one roof with help from her friends and the Healthy Opportunities Pilots.

An enrollee reported that after just a few weeks the Healthy Opportunities Pilots have had a tremendous impact on everyone in her home. She expressed appreciation for access to fresh and nutritious food, which had previously been challenging to obtain. The enrollee and her family faced physical and financial barriers to accessing the food necessary for her dietary requirements and often relied on less nutrient-dense options.

With access to better foods, the family is now eating well and meeting their nutritional needs. They all have more energy, cheerful moods and feel much better physically. The enrollee even reported that her “husband is excited about coming home for supper these days! He is so happy about the variety and colorful options” and they “have all come together more as a family to eat again.”

The enrollee stated that this is a “small joy in [my] heart, that as a mother, [I don’t] have to worry about how [I’m] going feed my family. No one should ever have that burden on their heart.” 

A staff member at a local food Human Service Organization (HSO) shared recently that a Healthy Opportunities Pilots enrollee informed them that their blood sugar level, which is used to manage their diabetes, was down from 11 percent to 7 percent. That’s down from an emergency to almost normal.

When the enrollee’s health care provider asked what they were doing differently, they said it was the healthy food they get through the Healthy Opportunities Pilots. The Healthy Opportunities Pilots staff member shared, “I am so honored to get to do this work in the community that raised me.”

During a routine doctor’s appointment, an enrollee was identified as having multiple unmet health-related needs. The most pressing was transportation, as he had not had reliable transportation in five years. He lives in a rural county that does not have public transit and his car has needed constant repairs.

Through the Healthy Opportunities Pilots, he was able to have his brakes repaired, which has allowed him to keep medical appointments and reconnect with his community, which is helping with his depression.

In addition to the car repair, he is also receiving a fruit and vegetable prescription and his wood-burning furnace is being repaired just in time for winter. When asked about how the Healthy Opportunities Pilots have impacted him, he shared that “the Healthy Opportunities Pilots have literally changed my life.”