For Julia Adamo and her colleagues at the Economic Opportunity Council of Suffolk, collaboration is key to helping the community thrive.

As the Economic Opportunity Council of Suffolk, Inc. (EOC) approaches its 60th anniversary, its mission remains clear: to support low-income families and individuals on their path to self-sufficiency. For the past seven years, Julia Adamo has served as EOC’s Quality Assurance and Compliance Officer, observing the breadth of its work.

Headquartered in Patchogue with seven locations across Queens and Long Island, EOC balances wide reach with a deep commitment to the local communities it serves. EOC as a Community Action Agency aims to broaden the minds of children; revitalize communities; and support families and individuals in need by providing services and coordinating federal, state, local, and private resources. EOC provides a variety of services, from childcare, care coordination, HIV/AIDS services, and housing services, to supportive services for veterans and their families and serving people with developmental disabilities.

In her role, Julia oversees the EOC compliance program and brings a data-driven approach to maximizing impact and quality service delivery in the community. “EOC is a service-driven and impact-driven kind of agency,” she says. “The work is really meaningful because I’ve gotten to see families become self-sufficient.”

One of her duties as quality assurance officer is staying connected to EOC program staff and ensuring they remain in compliance with funding source requirements: “I love seeing what our staff are doing. Their work in the community is really important and has a profound effect.”

 

Enhancing services through the network

EOC has recently expanded the scope of its impact through its participation in the Health Equity Alliance of Long Island (HEALI), Long Island’s Social Care Network (SCN), supported by New York State’s 1115 Medicaid waiver. The HEALI SCN partners with community-based organizations (CBOs) such as EOC to address the social determinants of health of Long Island’s Medicaid members. The HEALI SCN, led by the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island, screens Medicaid members to determine what needs they have as they relate to social determinants of health and refer them to services that can help meet those needs. Together, the partners of HEALI help Long Islanders thrive by making it easier to access the services that support their health needs.

Collaboration with HEALI has assisted EOC to broaden the reach of its support by connecting its clients to resources that complement its own programming. “We’re a large agency, and we have a variety of services,” explains Julia, “but unfortunately we don’t have everything that a person could possibly need. Through this initiative, we’re able to not only have our clients enroll in our programs, but also enhance what we’re able to provide them by connecting them to resources through HEALI.”

Julia emphasizes that the partnership with HEALI has also expanded client choice. EOC can now navigate its clients to a wider range of resources that they’re eligible for — allowing clients to indicate which specific needs they want to prioritize. “These resources have definitely allowed us to enhance our programs.”

 

A streamlined, coordinated social care system through HEALI

One of the biggest benefits of the HEALI SCN, according to Julia, has been the streamlined screening, navigation, and referral processes. “Before HEALI, we would have to go through our internal resource list to try to identify what was fitting for the client’s needs,” she explains.

Enabled by HEALI’s use of Unite Us, a technology platform that supports social care coordination, EOC now has all the information it needs in one place, reducing unnecessary administrative steps and allowing it to share information more effectively with network organizations. “The system has all the demographic and contact information in one place.” She notes that HEALI has guided EOC through what seemed at first like a daunting task — implementing and using the Unite Us platform.

HEALI has also reinforced EOC’s relationships with other local CBOs. “Those are definitely relationships that we want to continue to maintain in the future,” says Julia.

 

Giving back and finding balance

Julia points to EOC’s tradition of remaining deeply engaged with the community it serves. One such example is EOC of Suffolk’s annual National Week of Prayer for the Healing of HIV & AIDS, which EOC has supported alongside local faith leaders for nearly three decades. “This event is used to bring the faith community and individuals living with HIV and AIDS together,” says Julia. “It highlights the impact that the faith community can have in addressing HIV stigma and the role they can play in ending the epidemic.”

Outside of her work, Julia enjoys going for runs, hiking with her friends, spending time with family, crafting, and reading books. Most recently, she started volunteering at her local animal shelter when she saw on social media that they were short on volunteers.

To learn more about the incredible work of EOC of Suffolk, please visit www.eoc-suffolk.com.