ASHEVILLE, NC – Vaya Health was honored to participate in the i2i Center for Integrative Health’s 2024 Winter Conference. Held at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem Dec. 11-12, the i2i Winter Conference aims to foster new partnerships, connections in integrated services and supports, and innovative practices in whole-person care.
Innovation Award: Housing Stability Initiative
Vaya received a Person-Driven Initiative 2024 Innovation Award for its pioneering Housing Stability Initiative at the i2i Winter Conference. This initiative brings together community stakeholders to address housing risks and prevent homelessness, promoting inclusion and stability for individuals facing challenges.
The Housing Stability Initiative utilizes a proactive early warning system to identify and resolve housing concerns. Behavioral health providers submit monthly updates, allowing Vaya to coordinate timely interventions. Over the past two years, the program has helped more than 250 individuals maintain housing through tailored support, including financial assistance, home maintenance, and advocacy.
“This recognition highlights the value of collaboration and innovative problem-solving to support housing stability,” said Celeste Ordiway, Vice President of Transition and Housing for Vaya Health. “By working closely with providers and community partners, we can address challenges before they escalate, ensuring individuals can remain in the community with dignity.”
In the 2023–2024 fiscal year, Vaya’s Housing Stability Initiative successfully prevented homelessness for 133 individuals, achieving a 64% success rate.
Helene Response and Recovery
Vaya Area Director and CEO Tracy Hayes participated in discussion panels focused on how community health plans strengthen community infrastructure in North Carolina and how Vaya and the other North Carolina Local Management Entities are driving innovation in the state.
As part of the panel on community support, Hayes recounted the vital role Vaya is playing in the response and recovery phases following Hurricane Helene. Vaya is headquartered in Asheville and serves 20 North Carolina counties included in the disaster declarations following Hurricane Helene.
“Our guiding principles are to put people and communities first. We will figure out the funding and details later,” Hayes said. “Among many other activities, Vaya worked with providers and state officials to ensure that all shelters had behavioral health support on location, established virtual and face-to-face Listening Circles, and staffed Multi-Agency Shelter Transition Teams to help transition members out of shelters and back into the community.”
Vaya Care Management and Care Coordination teams successfully reached 96% of nearly 4,000 members Vaya serves through its Tailored Care Management service and more than 3,600 other plan members.
Staff contacted 1,027 providers and evaluated 3,443 sites for operational readiness and areas of need to make sure providers received the supplies and support necessary to return to operations. (To date, 99.8% of Vaya-contracted provider sites are open and operational.) Vaya made hardship, stabilization, and retainer payments to providers to assist with lost revenue, including over $4.5 million in direct provider stabilization payments as of Dec. 10. Stabilization payments are not loans and do not have to be paid back.
System of Care and Local Child Collaboratives
The i2i conference also featured a presentation from Vaya staff on System of Care and Local Child Collaboratives. Presented by Vaya’s System of Care Director Kelly Wolf, along with System of Care Managers Laquitia Cozart and Renee Urban, the session highlighted Vaya’s innovative strategies for building strong community partnerships that address local needs and enhance support for children, youth, and families.
The presentation focused on the defining values of the System of Care model, including cultural competence, interagency collaboration, and family-centered approaches. Vaya shared real-world examples of successful collaborations, such as working with youths, families, schools, local agencies, and community organizations to create tailored solutions that improve outcomes for families.
