By Guy Page

A nonprofit that helps immigrants, regardless of legal status, get to health care appointments is asking Vermont lawmakers for $167,000 in state funding after losing support from the University of Vermont Extension Service.

Failure to fund the Bridges to Health program could result in more visits to already clogged emergency departments, Hunger Free Vermont Executive Director Anore Horton told the Vermont House Agriculture and Food Markets Committee January 9. Horton asked for the funding to be included in the Budget Adjustment Act, the mid-year ‘tweak’ of the current 2025-26 fiscal year budget. 

The request was discussed Jan. 9 during testimony before the where Hunger Free Vermont Executive Director Anore Horton described the work of the Bridges to Health program. The program provides transportation and care coordination for immigrant and migrant workers and their families, particularly those employed in agriculture, construction and service industries.

According to Horton, Bridges to Health relies on eight regionally based community health workers who assist more than 1,000 people each year. The workers help individuals and families navigate what Horton called an increasingly complex health care system, while also connecting them to food shelves, pantries, congregate meal sites and summer meal programs for children.

“These are trusted relationships that have been built over time,” Horton told the committee, emphasizing that community health workers have established rapport not only with clients, but also with employers, volunteer drivers, health care providers and community organizations. Many of the people served by the program are not eligible for federal food assistance programs, Horton said, despite being among the populations most at risk for severe hunger in Vermont.

The $167,000 funding request comes after the University of Vermont dropped its financial support for the program, leaving a gap that organizers say threatens its ability to continue operating at current levels. Supporters argue that state funding would help maintain transportation services and one-on-one assistance that reduce barriers to preventive and primary care.

Horton warned lawmakers that without programs like Bridges to Health, unmet needs could create higher costs elsewhere. She said immigrants who lack safe and trusted ways to access care are more likely to delay treatment or seek help only when conditions become emergencies.

“If these thousand-plus folks, adults and children alike, don’t have a trusted way to get connected to free sources of health care and food that are safe for them to use, then they’re going to end up ultimately in a hospital emergency department that’s already overstretched,” Horton said. Others, she added, may avoid care altogether out of fear, leading to worse health outcomes.

Lawmakers did not take immediate action on the request, but the testimony placed the funding proposal into the broader discussion over state support for food security, farm labor and access to health care for immigrant communities.