Bright Spot: Winona Medical Debt Effort

(Winona, MN) – Five southeastern Minnesota churches have joined forces to clear more than $2 million of medical debt throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin. The five faith communities raised $15,000 and, through a partnership with the New York-based nonprofit RIP Medical Debt, purchased and cleared medical debt in bulk across both states. As a result, 1,057 households will receive a yellow, RIP Medical Debt branded letter in the next two weeks informing them that their medical debt has been relieved and that credit agencies have been informed these families are no longer liable for the debt.

The five churches that worked together to achieve this goal are: First Congregational Church of Winona, UCC (Rev. Danielle Bartz); Grace Presbyterian Church of Winona, PCUSA (Rev. Rachel Rosendahl); Central Lutheran Church, ELCA (Rev. Michael Short); Cedar Valley Lutheran Church, ELCA (Rev. Jeff Franko); Lutheran Campus Center of Winona, ELCA (Rev. Corrine Haulotte).

“Our primary goal with this campaign was to relieve the burden of debt for families across the region,” said Rev. Danielle Bartz. “We also wanted to show our churches that even small communities can do tremendous things. This campaign has more than proven that.”

The congregations raised the $15,000 in spring and early summer, achieving their goal by mid-July. They then engaged RIP Medical Debt for its expertise in finding and purchasing medical debt that was causing tremendous burden for families in Minnesota and Wisconsin. By seeking debt that had been deemed unlikely to be paid by debt collectors, and then purchasing it in bulk, much of the debt was able to be purchased for less than a penny on the dollar. Meaning one dollar donated to RIP relieves $100 of medical debt. Unfortunately, relief is random and community members cannot request relief.

“My community is made up of college students, so they have limited means,” said Rev. Corrine Haulotte. “But by partnering with RIP Medical Debt, their small donations created a huge difference in the lives of many people.”

The idea to raise money to relieve medical debt grew out of weekly meetings between the clergy of the five churches. "Our Tuesday morning group is such a bright spot in our lives, especially during this pandemic. It gave us the space and strength to focus on doing something good just because we all wanted to see something good,” said Rev. Rachel Rosendahl.

On Friday, September 18, 2020, the five pastors shared a recorded video with their respective communities, informing the congregations of the impact of their $15,000. “We are so thankful for the overwhelming generosity of our churches,” said Rev. Jeff Franko. “Clergy may have a lot of ideas, but it is our congregations that make them real. They gave from their abundance, knowing that they will likely never know whose life they were changing.”

RIP Medical Debt is a nonprofit organization that allows generous donors and organizations to erase the debt of Americans whose lives have been destroyed by unjust medical debt. Founded in 2014 by two former collections industry executive, Craig Antico & Jerry Ashton, RIP rose to national prominence on an episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver that has been viewed almost 10 million times, where RIP facilitated the erasure of $15 million in medical debt for only $60,000. To learn more and get involved, visit www.ripmedicaldebt.org.