At its June 11th meeting, Grace’s United Women in Faith heard an excellent presentation by Peggy West, a VISTA volunteer at The Collaboratory, a non-profit organization in Dayton, about an initiative called “Miami Valley Medical Debt Relief Campaign”. This alleviates medical debt for those who can least afford it.
UWF was so impressed by this effort that it wants to share this opportunity for giving with the entire congregation. Currently, there is qualified medical debt totaling $22.75 million in the Miami Valley. This debt impacts 13,000 people who earn less than 4 times the federal poverty level or whose debt is more than 5% of their income. The Collaboratory works in partnership with Undue Medical Debt, a non-profit organization based in Massachusetts. Undue Medical Debt purchases medical debt in bulk, negotiates the price of the debt portfolios, and then purchases them for pennies on the dollar. It costs approximately $1 to abolish $178 of medical debt. Thus, the UWF’s $1,000 donation will abolish $178,000 of debt!
According to Peggy, $28,000 has been raised thus far. Contributions are tax-deductible. If you want to learn more about this effort and/or are interested in making a personal donation, go to this website.
