Below is an article that ran in the Wise County Messenger regarding our mission to help relieve medical debt in North Texas:

A small church in Decatur is partnering with a national nonprofit to provide medical debt relief to North Texans.

Through a RIP Medical Debt campaign, Episcopal Church of the Resurrection has raised funds to pay off more than $535,000 in medical bills to date.

“That is over $500,000 we are going to take care of for these people,” said Ellen Whitley, a lay member at the church. 

Texas has the highest percentage of uninsured residents in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Even with insurance, medical costs have heightened and deductibles and copays have increased. 

The donations gathered by Episcopal Church of the Resurrection are used by RIP Medical Debt to buy debt profiles for pennies on the dollar on the secondary debt market. The campaign helps people in Dallas, Tarrant, Rockwall, Denton, Kaufman, Ellis, Hunt, Delta, Collin, Parker, Wise, and Johnson counties.

The people who benefit from campaigns are often parents or caregivers that are working to provide for their families, Whitley said. 

“It has been on [the hospitals’] books for so long but people can’t pay for it,” she said. “[The hospitals] don’t want to waive it but it is still on the books so they sell it to RIP Medical Debt.” 

For every dollar raised, $100 of medical debt is taken from the debtor. In many cases, a donation of $8.87 will completely remove the debt associated with a single account. 

“They get a letter letting them know that their bill has been paid,” Whitley said. 

Whitley said she and her late husband, Marquis, started the church in their dining room in 2015. Over the years, they began renting a small church building located at the corner of Church Street and Hale Avenue. From the beginning, the couple knew that they wanted the church to be defined by its generosity. 

“We felt in our hearts that [outreach] was what the church was supposed to be about and we felt like God planted us here,” Whitley said. “We wanted to be a part of the community and we wanted to just reach out and help where we could.” 

Their founding mission has become a reality thanks to their church members. The congregation of around 25 people regularly discusses new organizations they can give to and how they can help people experiencing difficulties. 

With several members living in Fort Worth or other surrounding areas, the church spent time considering how they could give back despite their small congregation. Vestry member Jill McClendon suggested they devote time and donations to a different organization each month. In the last year, members have come together to provide resources to organizations and agencies including the Wise County Animal Shelter, local fire departments, CASA and the Children’s Advocacy Center. 

The church typically collects donations for one month at a time, but their medical debt relief effort will run through March. 

Visit wcmess.com/medicaldebt to donate to their campaign.

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Also, during February, we are gathering items for Wise Hope Shelter and Crises Center. The items needed are:

          Paper/Plastic Products:     toilet paper

                                                  paper towels

                                                  Kitchen size trash bags

                                                  Quart Ziplock bags

                                                  Gallon Ziplock bags

          Cleaning Products:            Dishwasher detergent (pods only)

                                                  Laundry detergent (pods only)

                                                  Toilet bowl cleaner

                                                  Bathroom cleaner

                                                  Liquid dish soap

                                                  Lysol liquid

                                                  Lysol disinfecting spray

          Cloth Products:                 Kitchen towels

                                                  Kitchen dishcloths

Wise Hope provides the following services: Domestic Violence Hotlines, Domestic Violence Shelters, Domestic/Family Violence Legal Services, Public Awareness/Education for Domestic Violence Issues, Specialized Information and Referral for Spouse/Domestic Partner Abusers.

Wise Hope Shelter and Crisis Center assists victims of family violence and sexual assault by providing education, assistance and accompaniment throughout the survival process. Services include: 24-hour shelter, 24 hour crisis line, public education, resource referral, counseling, legal advocacy and more. Information and referral is available for the batterer.

Office Hours: Monday – Friday
8:30 am – 5 pm
Other Times by Appointment.

http://www.wisehope.org

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March allowed us to help another organization, as well. 

Meals on Wheels was another Mission of the Month for March.

 

Meals on Wheels Wise County provides meal services to homebound seniors and others — and that need is growing as Wise County is growing.  Their meal service enables seniors to enjoy a hot meal delivered to their place of residence, as well as the opportunity to interact with the volunteer bringing food to their door.  In many cases this is the only human interaction they have that day.

 

We were informed that funds were needed to keep Meals on Wheels up and running. 

 

I am proud to say the hearts of our congregation are big and they donated money for this mission.  Resurrection will also add funds, so a nice-sized check was sent to them.