From Truth Out: http://truth-out.org/news/item/13508-occupy-wall-street-forgives-100000-of-medical-debt-and-counting
By Beth Buczynski, Care2
Monday, 24 December 2012
Last month, Care2 reported on an exciting new project coming out of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Called “The Rolling Jubilee,” this effort claimed that it would use the power of crowdfunding to buy and pay off the 99%’s debt for pennies on the dollar.
“If you’re a debt broker, once you own someone’s debt you can do whatever you want with it — traditionally, you hound debtors to their grave trying to collect,” wrote blogger and OWS organizer David Rees. “We’re playing a different game. A MORE AWESOME GAME.”
More awesome indeed! The campaign to raise funds for the Rolling Jubilee kicked off with a telethon and variety show at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City on November 15th. Although the plans made headlines around the world leading up to the event, there have been no updates, until now.
Just in time for the holidays, members of Strike Debt and The Rolling Jubilee recently announced that the campaign raised nearly half a million dollars — enough to buy and forgive nearly $10 million of debt. And just this week, the activists gathered to send out notifications to the unsuspecting recipients of this first round of debt forgiveness.
Most of the collected money will be used to purchase a big hunk of distressed medical debt next month, reports the Village Voice. But as a sort of proof-of-concept, Strike Debt has already spent $5,000 to buy $100,000 of distressed medical debt owed by 44 people in upstate New York. In order to avoid getting tossed out with the junk usually found in mailboxes, the forgiveness letters were packaged in a small box wrapped in festive paper. Here’s what they say:
“Seasons Greetings from Strike Debt!”
“We write with good news: the above referenced account has been purchased by the Rolling Jubilee Fund, a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization. The Rolling Jubilee Fund is a project of Strike Debt. The mission of this project is to buy and abolish personal debt. We believe that no one should have to go into debt for the basic things in our lives, like healthcare, housing, and education. You no longer owe the balance of this debt. It is gone, a gift with no strings attached. You are no longer any obligation to settle this account with the original creditor, the bill collector, or anyone else.”
Can you imagine what it would be like to open that letter? Better yet, can you imagine the profound impact it makes to realize that this wasn’t the work of a national charity or wealthy benefactor, but the result of thousands of people just like you coming together to support and lift each other up?
Continue reading at: http://truth-out.org/news/item/13508-occupy-wall-street-forgives-100000-of-medical-debt-and-counting
