Strengthening Quality Care & Health for All

We are shaped by the places we live and the people who raised us. As members of Trillium’s Council on Health Disparities, community has always been our shared starting point, even though our paths to it look different.

Bo grew up in Fuquay-Varina and Chapel Hill, with deep roots in southeastern North Carolina. Service and civic life were part of everyday conversation in his family. His family was made up of farmers, educators, and civil servants. He remembers holding campaign signs for his father and learning early that service begins with showing up.

Felicia was raised in Greenville in a time when the whole community helped raise you. She remembers preparing meals and checking on neighbors with her grandmother, Naomi Best Parker. Through Naomi, she learned that care is an intentional action.

We learned from an early age that community brings out the best of us. It’s so much more than where you live. It’s showing up. It's checking on your neighbors, sharing what you have, and making sure no one is left behind.

That belief is what brought us to Trillium’s Council on Health Disparities. We serve because we want to help ensure that when someone in our communities needs care, no matter their background or circumstance, there is a hand ready to help. In this post, we’ll explore how Trillium and its Council on Health Disparities are extending that hand. 

Identifying these gaps is the first step to creating solutions. The best news? Creating solutions that increase awareness, access, and care helps everyone. Addressing systemic issues along with unmet health-related resource needs, such as food, housing, and transportation, builds stronger communities. You don’t need to look far to see the benefit. In just two years, the Healthy Opportunities Pilot (HOP) saved North Carolina $85 per participant each month in medical costs.  Participants also went to the emergency department significantly less and had fewer hospital stays. HOP achieved this by helping Medicaid members with the highest health needs get support for these health-related resources. 

That is why we believe so strongly that health and health care must be for everyone, not just for those who know where to look or how to ask. 

The Council’s Role in Supporting Trillium’s Mission

We joined the Council on Health Disparities because we have seen the gaps. We have experienced how complex systems affect real people. Felicia’s granddaughter was born with a traumatic brain injury. Even with 20 years of experience in behavioral health, she wasn't sure where to turn to help her granddaughter get the support she would need. Bo has managed his recovery for 36 years and lived with a cognitive disability. We know the confusion, frustration, and gaps that can happen when navigating systems for your and other’s health. We’ve walked those paths too. 

From the beginning, the Council focused on listening. We wanted representation from Trillium's five regions so voices could move both ways, from communities to Trillium, and back again. The Council amplifies the voices of over 30 community members and stakeholders representing populations served by Trillium that may face added barriers in accessing services and supports. We include representatives from our Consumer and Family Advisory Committees (CFACs), people of color, including Black, Native American, Asian American, Hispanic and Latine individuals, veterans, LGBTQ+ people, Individuals who primarily speak Spanish, residents of rural areas, and people who have difficulty accessing resource needs, such as transportation, stable housing, or fresh and affordable food.

Through data, lived experience, and shared conversation, the Council identified its key priorities: food insecurity, safe and affordable housing, access to care for individuals facing mental health concerns and substance use disorders. Together, the Council is working with Trillium leadership and trusted community leaders to close the gaps by creating person- and community-driven solutions that are building bridges to better health outcomes for all. Even outside of our monthly meetings, our involvement has allowed us to quickly address the questions or access issues people face in our communities. 

When people get care early, communities grow safer and stronger. When families have reliable access to food and housing, stability follows. When mental health and substance use care are available, crises are prevented and lives are saved.