CASA is proud to celebrate Alliance Health as our Partner of the Month in March!
Alliance Health is the managed care organization (MCO) for public behavioral healthcare for the citizens of Durham, Wake, Cumberland, and Johnson counties in North Carolina. Alliance works with over 2,000 behavioral healthcare providers to coordinate services for people with Medicaid or for those without insurance. Their goal is to ensure that individuals seeking help receive the quality services and supports they’re eligible for to help them achieve their goals and live as independently as possible.
Alliance Health and CASA serve many of the same people – low-income individuals and families living with disabilities in Raleigh-Durham. We’re proud to call Alliance an essential partner – both as a service provider and as a housing developer.
In 2017, CASA purchased the Maplewood and Underwood Apartments in Durham. The adjacent communities consist of 80 one-bedroom apartments. CASA purchased the property to preserve the units as affordable, and they continue to serve low income folks, many of whom have disabilities, near downtown Durham. Of the 80 homes, 13 of them were financed by Alliance. Those units are dedicated to Alliance Health clients and provide a home for individuals receiving ongoing services from providers in the Alliance Health network.
Alliance Health has a 24 hour emergency hotline for people experiencing crisis or other mental health needs. CASA refers our tenants in need to Alliance for help with assessments, referrals to healthcare providers, or questions about accessing services. CASA and Alliance staff work together to make sure that tenants have the support they need to live independently in their apartments.
One of those tenants is Tyler, who has lived in his Durham apartment for nearly three years. “Before CASA,” he says, “I stayed here, there, and everywhere.” Before he lived with CASA, he was homeless. He tried to stay in homeless shelters, but a muscular disorder made it hard for him to access help. He was connected to Alliance Health, who then referred him to CASA. “Alliance has been amazing,” he says, “They got me prepared and told me what I needed to do” to get ready to have an apartment in his name for the first time. “They made things so much less stressful.”
Alliance has been providing supportive services, and CASA installed handicap rails around the apartment so Tyler didn’t have to worry about falling. Having an apartment has made all the difference, Tyler says. “You have a safety net. You have a place to come home to and be safe. You can just be you.”
Thank you, Alliance Health, for being such incredible partners for CASA and the people we serve together.
