Raising Funds to pay off Medical Debt for Pinellas Residents
Mission accomplished — and exceeded.
The Rev. Bob Swick challenged his congregation at St. Francis of Assisi, Old Catholic Church to raise $15,000 to pay off people’s medical debt across Pinellas County.
According to church officials, while Swick was leaving a grocery store, a Baptist pastor caught his attention with two words: “medical debt.” The pastor was raising money to buy back medical debt in Central Florida with a nonprofit led by two former debt collectors. By identifying the debt least likely to be paid, they were able to buy back debt from collection agencies for pennies on the dollar.
For Father Bob, the question was simple: “If they can do, why not us?”
The fundraiser was the first for the young Catholic church, and the timing was horrific, Swick said. “No sooner than I get the cooperation and enthusiasm response of the parishioners, boom, COVID came in,” said Swank, who joined the church in 2019. Despite that period of time, the church exceeded the goal by $2,000, raising $17,000.
Parish members got in touch with RIP Medical Debt to prepare the transfer and to ensure 100 percent of the collected funds would go toward abolishing medical debt.
Ultimately, the $17,000 in donations were able to abolish $3.86 million of medical debt, which at the time represented the entirety of medical debt for 1,998 Pinellas County residents and 22 residents in Pasco County. “This is extraordinary. This has never been done before in Pinellas County,” Swick said.
Daniel Lempert, a spokesman for RIP Medical Debt, confirmed the figures that Swick cited and said that the average debt abolished was $1,822. The church’s hope is that news of the fundraiser will inspire others to take action that directly improves the lives of people in their communities.
Swick’s mantra is, “Do a daily random act of kindness.”
Services in the St. Francis of Assisi, Old Catholic Church, which is at 545 Wood St., are held at the Church of Christ historical building. An inaugural Mass was held in 2019.
RIP Medical Debt is a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating medical debt that burdens thousands of people each year. The organization accepts individual and corporate donations to purchase medical debt directly from hospitals.
To learn more about how to give the gift of medical debt relief, visit RIP’s website at https://ripmedicaldebt.org.