St. Dunstan’s has a bold initiative for Lent – to raise money to forgive $5 million in oppressive medical debt for Atlanta families.
We are working in partnership with Rest in Peace Medical Debt, a nonprofit organization that purchases bundles of medical debt from hospitals and collection agencies. They target debt owed by households making less than twice the federal poverty level, or with medical debt of more than five percent of the household’s annual income.
RIP purchases this debt not to collect it, but to forgive it with money donated from individuals and organizations. That’s where we come in. For Lent we will run a campaign to raise money for RIP. The vestry has pledged a $25,000 matching grant — that means that we will meet the first $25,000 in donations.
Here’s the amazing part — because the debt is collected for pennies on the dollar, our campaign becomes like a modern-day loaves and fishes.
If you donate a dollar, it will forgive $100 of debt.
$100 forgives $10,000.
$1,000 forgives $100,000.
And the church will match your contribution.
If we meet our goal of $50,000, we will be able to forgive $5 million of debt for some of the poorest households in Atlanta. That means that several thousand households in Atlanta will receive a letter during the Easter season telling them their debt has been forgiven by St. Dunstan’s.
You can donate online or you can write a check to St. Dunstan’s and mark it for medical debt.