FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 28, 2025
The Suda Institute Receives $400,000 Investment from UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of North Carolina to Support Families Across Cabarrus, Stanly, and Rowan Counties
The Suda Institute is proud to announce it has received a $400,000 investment from UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of North Carolina to strengthen and expand the SUN (Substance Use Network) Project across Cabarrus, Stanly, and Rowan Counties. This strategic investment supports innovative approaches to improving health outcomes for mothers and families impacted by substance use disorder (SUD), particularly opioid use disorder.
The SUN Project, recognized both regionally and internationally for its transformative impact, is dedicated to eliminating systemic barriers and closing service gaps across public health, healthcare, social services, education, housing, and behavioral health. Since its launch, the project has achieved significant outcomes including zero reported maternal or infant deaths among participants, a 94% program adherence rate, and a 30% reduction in symptomatic neonatal abstinence syndrome among clients served through the SUN Project.
The investment from UnitedHealthcare will be used to:
- Coordinate a system of care for child and family well-being that enables real-time, cross-sector collaboration to better serve families impacted by SUD.
- Facilitate provider training for a strong workforce, including peer-to-peer education for physicians, legal consultation for inter-agency confidentiality compliance, and stigma-reduction efforts.
- Amplify community voices to improve behavioral health and resilience, especially those of mothers with lived experience, through engagement groups, leadership roles in governance, and recovery-supportive services.
“We are excited to collaborate with UnitedHealthcare in prevention and systems-level solutions that not only improve outcomes for families with complex needs but also reduce long-term costs and strengthen entire communities,” said Gina Hofert, CEO of the Suda Institute.
“We are committed to building healthier communities in North Carolina and to achieve that it is critical we support initiatives like the SUN Project,” said Anita Bachmann, CEO, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of North Carolina. “By eliminating barriers in care delivery, we can ensure better health outcomes for the individuals we have the privilege to serve.”
The SUN Project aligns with the strategic priorities outlined by county leadership across North Carolina such as advancing integrated care, reducing foster care placements, and improving maternal and child health outcomes. By addressing systemic barriers such as restrictive admission protocols, stigma in provider settings, and fragmented data systems, the SUN Project equips agencies to collaborate more effectively, ethically, and efficiently in support of whole-family wellness.
As part of this collaboration, we hope to train between 50 to 100 providers, increase best-practice implementation across sectors by 80%, and ensure that over 80% of SUN participants feel safe accessing care within their communities.
This investment represents a significant step forward in the region’s efforts to reduce maternal mortality, improve birth outcomes, and reduce the number of infants entering foster care, all while centering the voices of those most affected.
For more information about the SUN Project or the Suda Institute, visit www.thesudainstitute.org.
Media Contact:
Shadale N. Jacobs
Chief Operating Officer, The Suda Institute
Email: [email protected]
