Published January 29, 2019
North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness receives $25,000 for housing assistance and move-in essential items
Legal Aid of North Carolina given $25,000 to help low-income residents with legal issues
UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of North Carolina has donated $50,000 to Legal Aid of North Carolina and the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness as part of the company’s efforts to support Hurricane Florence recovery. Each organization received $25,000 to aid continued recovery efforts to help low-income North Carolinians who were affected by the devastating storm.
“The destruction of Hurricane Florence creates a long and difficult journey for many,” said Anita Bachmann, CEO, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of North Carolina. “UnitedHealthcare is grateful for the opportunity to support these organizations that help North Carolinians restore normalcy to their lives.”
The North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness received $25,000 for its Back@Home program. The initiative provides services and housing assistance to people at risk of homelessness who do not qualify for FEMA aid.
With the goal to ensure homelessness is rare, brief and one-time only, the coalition is working to minimize the long-term impacts of Hurricane Florence on housing. The funds donated by UnitedHealthcare will help purchase and deliver essential items – such as mattresses, bedding, towels, kitchenware and more – as people move into new homes, and to increase awareness of the program.
“These are people who have lost everything; they don’t need just a roof over their heads, they need a place to sleep that isn’t just the bare floor underneath them,” said Denise Neunaber, executive director of the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness. “The funds will help us design a sustainable system to provide move-in essentials on the very day a family moves into a new home. We will also be able to use social media and other formats to help the underserved in our communities.”
Legal Aid of North Carolina received $25,000 to help cover the costs of maintaining a presence in the disaster zone, and protecting the rights of the poor and survivors who require legal services for the next 6-8 months. Most of the organization’s initial cases from Hurricane Florence involved complex housing or landlord-tenant issues, and total personnel costs are to spike through mid-2019.
“The needs of Florence survivors will persist long after the public’s memory fades and the initial broad base of support has waned,” said Lesley Albritton, Legal Aid of North Carolina’s leading disaster relief attorney. “For years to come, our advocates will travel to still-struggling communities to help survivors with disaster benefits, insurance claims, economic development and more.”
UnitedHealthcare and Optum, the health benefits and services companies of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), donated $1 million to the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund in September 2018 to aid hurricane recovery. The company also matched employee donations dollar for dollar to charities supporting recovery efforts and organized clinical care through deployment of mobile clinics, and emergency kit and prescription drug donations.
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and making the health system work better for everyone by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. In the United States, UnitedHealthcare offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 1.2 million physicians and care professionals, and 6,500 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. The company also provides health benefits and delivers care to people through owned and operated health care facilities in South America. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified health care company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @UHC on Twitter.