0i2i center recognized nelson dollar with champion award

Pinehurst, NC (December 6, 2018). Long time NC Representative Nelson Dollar was recognized at the i2i Center for Integrative Health’s yearly conference in Pinehurst, NC with the first ever Champion Award for his advocacy for and recognition of the importance of the important role of the public Behavioral Health and I/DD system in NC. Remarking on Rep. Dollar’s advocacy, i2i Executive Director Mary Hooper said, “Over the course of his tenure, Rep. Dollar has demonstrated unwavering support for policies that improve the quality of life for our state’s most vulnerable citizens.”

Further elaborating on his contributions to the MH/IDD/SUD system, Hooper stated, “He has proven himself to be one of the rare “good guys” who finds the time to ask questions, listen, and respond. And if you’ve ever sat through a Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services, I guarantee you’ve observed Rep. Dollar finding ways to craft a few well-
planned questions that oftentimes have rebalanced a discussion that was going off the rails!

“Unfortunately, Rep. Dollar will not be returning to Raleigh for the next legislative session. But that doesn’t mean that we won’t be seeing more of him in his future work, wherever that will take him…including a return trip maybe. But we could not allow him to step away, even if it’s for a brief period of time, without saying thank you:

• Thank you for knowing the importance of the public Behavioral Health and I/DD system
• Thank you for challenging and expecting the managers and providers and professional community to improve that system
• Thank you for caring about the North Carolina citizens who have mental health issues, intellectual and developmental disabilities and substance use issues, knowing they have a right to quality lives, and working to make that happen.”

Rep. Dollar served 7 terms in the NC General Assembly’s House of Representatives serving District 36 in Wake County.

About i2i Center for Integrative Health

The mission of the i2i Center is to foster collaborative and evidence-based initiatives for improving the quality and efficacy of the behavioral health, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and substance use care and support services systems within a comprehensive system of whole person care. The i2i Center accomplishes its mission by: convening stakeholders; strategizing solutions and activating change.