Overview:
A $500 million New York state initiative is helping Medicaid recipients address non-medical needs that affect their health, including food access, transportation and housing support. Community organizations say Haitian residents should take advantage of the Social Care Networks program before it ends next year.
BROOKLYN — New Yorkers with Medicaid can get money and other free support with non-medical needs to help them better follow doctor’s orders, thanks to a $500 million program aimed at closing health disparities across the Empire State. Several organizations providing the assistance say Haitian New Yorkers in particular should take advantage of the initiative before it ends next year.
“I don’t want us to be left out,” said Dr. Alerte, CEO of the Progressive Community Center in East Flatbush. “Very often, programs come to the city and we — the Haitian community, Caribbean community — are left out.
“[This] program is being initiated from the observation [belief] that healthcare is not just a prescription from the doctor,” the doctor said.
Created in 2024, the program called the Social Care Networks system of distribution is run by nine entities throughout the state, according to a state announcement. The goal of the three-year initiative is to connect community based organizations, like Alerte’s center, with patients who can use food, transportation and housing assistance to seek or follow medical treatment. The approach is based on an understanding that poor quality of life can worsen health outcomes, its administrators say. If people have a diagnosis or treatment plan, but do not live conveniently to treatment or are behind on rent, their health will further suffer.
In the Progressive Community Center’s case, Alerte said his staff is equipped to help patients pay rent, get food, rides to their health care visits, and even assistance with utilities. Being based in Flatbush, Alerte has Haitian Creole-speakers on staff to better assist Haitian residents.
“They are looking to identify those people and to fill up those gaps. And it’s free,” he exclaimed. “Can you imagine that?”
Natarria Jackson. Photo courtesy of Natarria Jackson
Next-level day-to-day life assistance
Natarria Jackson, a Bedford-Stuyvesant resident, is among those who have received help so far from Progressive. A diabetic with a 15-year-old daughter in remission from acute myeloid leukemia and a special needs son, Jackson turned to Progressive when she fell behind on her electricity bill.
“They helped me with my electric bill because I was quite behind — I was in arrears,” Jackson, 45, said.
Progressive also gave Jackson, who is currently unemployed, a MetroCard for six months.
“It actually helps because I’m trying to find a new job,” the Bedford Stuyvesant resident explained. “I also do physical therapy twice a week. So it helps me out. It really helps me out.”
Jackson, who has Type-2 diabetes and mobility issues, also needed a small refrigerator in her bedroom so she could access her medication easily. The program bought that for her too, along with a microwave, to replace pots with missing handles and cracked glass lids, and even cutlery.
“I’ve been in tune with a couple of different organizations, but never one that provided these things like this,” Jackson said.
More than money on paper
A funding package from the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provided in early 2024, allocated $3.5 billion in grant money to the state. Public Health Solutions (PHS), a 60-year-old nonprofit manages and funds over 200 community-based organizations as a contractor with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Its WholeYouNYC unit administers the 2024 grant money with groups like Progressive across the three boroughs.
William Chambers, Brooklyn community engagement manager at WholeYouNYC, said they hope to reach all 2.5 million Medicaid members in the three boroughs. So far, only about 300,000 members have participated since the program launched.
“We have a long way to go from 300,000 to 2.5 million, across the boroughs,” Chambers said.
Hervé Talleyrand, the organization’s community engagement specialist for Brooklyn, encourages all eligible Medicaid members to reach out for help before time runs out.
“We want all of them,” she said. “The WholeYouNYC social care network is not only about ensuring that we deliver these services to communities most impacted the most in need, but finding a way to navigate people through it completely.”
Alerte suggests people get screened. “We want everybody to know about the program,” he said, “then we want everybody to be screened to find out whether they need it or not.”
To see if you or a family member is eligible for assistance maintaining your health, call Progressive Community Center at 718-715-0400 during the workday or complete the screening formon https://progressivecommunitycentercf.org/scnform/. You can also find a location or different organization near you on the WholeYouNYC services page, at https://www.wholeyou.nyc/find-services.
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