The North Carolina Healthy Opportunities Pilot (HOP) is the nation’s most comprehensiveprogram to use Medicaid funding to address social determinants of health, including housing instability, food insecurity, transportation, and personal safety. The HOP pilot in Western North Carolina, led by nonprofit Impact Health, encompasses more than 60 human service organizations (HSOs) delivering pilot services in Buncombe, Henderson, Madison, and 15 other counties across WNC.
For Homeward Bound, HOP offers a valuable opportunity to expand the number of people we can serve. Since Homeward Bound joined the program in July 2024, our HOP team has helped 20 families secure safe and stable housing. Angel, our HOP specialist, has seen firsthand how HOP helps people who may not know where to turn.
“Some of these folks have never been homeless,” shares Angel. “Some have been chronically homeless. We’re serving both. Someone’s husband might have died and they’ve lost income and become homeless. They’re single moms who just got divorced and are now on the streets. They don’t have family who can take them in. HOP becomes part of their support system.”
Along with covering the security deposit and first month’s rent, HOP funding helps Homeward Bound provide items a family needs to set up a home –from utility deposits to essential furnishings like bedding, bathroom supplies, cleaning items, dishes, and cribs. HOP also provides housing navigation support to help families find and settle into their new homes and access additional support through other local community service providers that can help with transportation assistance or food boxes. “The process is connecting all the resources we have readily available —uniting all the resources for everyone,” Angel explains.
Nine months into the program, the HOP team is already seeing a positive impact, not just in securing housing but in providing a reliable support system to people in crisis.
“Having someone they can call about their situation has been huge for them,” Angel shares. “A lot of people have to come up with $3,000 to $4,000 just to get into a home, and that’s one of the biggest obstacles that HOP can help with. We helped a client move into a home and got her car fixed. She’s been able to go to work now, and that’s relieved a lot of stress for her.”
As North Carolina considers expanding HOP statewide, Homeward Bound is thankful to support more neighbors in Buncombe County and provide new pathways to housing for our unhoused community. You can learn more about HOP, its services, and who’s eligible for the program here.
Joe Hart is the Communications Specialist for Homeward Bound of WNC. He loves telling our client's stories and encourages everyone in the community to get to know the people living near them who are experiencing homelessness. Reuniting individuals with their community is the first step to helping end homelessness everywhere.
Our measure of success generally is determined by measuring the percentage of clients in our permanent supportive housing programs who remain housed 12 months after placement. Given the many variables that impact chronically homeless clients, and consistent with other studies, we count as “housed” those who have graduated from supportive housing to other housing, those who move to health care facilities, those who have moved out of the area, and can no longer be tracked; those incarcerated, and those who have died. For example, at The Woodfin, of the 37 clients who have been housed over five years, 92% remain housed. Seventeen clients live at The Woodfin now; five have “graduated” to other housing; two have moved to nursing facilities; seven have died, and two have been imprisoned. Only four clients have been evicted.
