CDPHP® and Unity House: A Shared Mission With Local Roots

For many people, a warm meal is a mundane aspect of everyday life. For others, it’s cause for a moment of deep gratitude and appreciation.

David Bach has seen this profound difference firsthand. As President and CEO of Unity House in Troy, New York, he has witnessed the impact a simple sandwich can have on someone’s day.

Established in 1971, Unity House is a multi-service nonprofit that meets the needs of struggling people in the community by providing a broad range of services that address education, domestic violence, housing, hunger, and more. “If you’re in need in the Capital Region, most likely we have something that’s going to help you,” Bach explains.

The organization’s impact was evident at a recent community lunch hosted by Unity House, where Bach noticed a newcomer pause after receiving a hot sausage and pepper sandwich.  Sensing the patron’s hesitation, Bach asked if he needed anything else, like utensils or a napkin. “Just — thank you,” the man told Bach. “I appreciate that you’re doing this. This is probably the only meal I am going to get today.”

Unity House’s efforts don’t stop with meals, and in fact, extend from career planning services to children’s programming, to even a thrift shop. To serve the community at this scale, Unity House relies on a team of approximately 400 full-time employees who are deeply committed to the work they do. Bach is equally dedicated to making sure his employees’ needs are met so they can best serve others. “Our job is to make sure that we give them the highest pay we can, the best benefits we can, because if we can take care of our staff, they’re going to take care of everybody else,” he says.

That’s why CDPHP® has been Unity House’s chosen health plan for more than 26 years. Bach explains that affordable rates and great value are a key consideration, but he also deeply appreciates the organization’s personal touch, strong local roots, and commitment to community.

Community at the Core

As a Capital Region native himself, Bach sees CDPHP as an integral partner in serving the local community. “Having those local roots allows for better customer service and better attention to the people that we serve, and in this case, our team. But it’s also a benefit to the overall community,” he says. “I go to a lot of events, and I don’t know if I’ve been to an event where I haven’t seen somebody from CDPHP. They’re at every one of our events. We’re at every one of theirs. They support the nonprofit world incredibly well. That makes a really big difference for us.” And if anyone knows what it means to serve the community in an authentic way, it’s Unity House.

Helping Hands with a Personal Touch

While CDPHP serves the community on a broad scale, the organization also offers great attention to each member they serve. Bach says CDPHP is always available to help his employees when it comes to health coverage. Whether they’re a Unity House employee or a member of the organization’s HR team, Bach says they’re always able to get a real person from CDPHP on the phone to assist. “On both sides of the coin, their customer service works really well,” he explains, adding that this personalized assistance further elevates the great value that CDPHP plans offer.

He also explains that their CDPHP plans include some valuable perks that have real impacts on their employees’ health, such as a fitness reimbursement, weight-loss program, support for quitting smoking, education on nutrition, and more.

Because of both tangible benefits, like wellness perks, and intangible benefits, like a helpful voice on the other end of the phone, Bach doesn’t hesitate to recommend CDPHP to fellow business leaders and colleagues.

The most meaningful thing to him, however, is the spirit of generosity and care for others that CDPHP brings to life within the community — it’s at the core of Unity House’s mission, too. 

Want to learn more about CDPHP member and employer experiences? Explore their stories and learn how working with CDPHP has made a difference.