A group of former Occupy Wall Street activists have abolished nearly $15m of medical Debt

[n2doc]

Thousands of Americans are free from debt thanks to a grassroots project called Rolling Jubilee.

It has raised $700,000 (£422,000) by crowdsourcing money to buy consumer debt on the secondary debt market for a fraction of its original value. It then spent $300,000 (£181,000) wiping out almost $15m (£9m).

So far, 3,801 people have benefited in 46 states and Puerto Rico, according to organisers.

“It was a godsend. I didn’t know these people,” 80-year-old Kentucky resident Shirley Logsdon told Agence France-Presse, after her medical bill was paid off.

According to Rolling Jubilee, 62% of bankruptcies are caused by medical illness.

The campaign is a project of Strike Debt – a group of former Occupy Wall Street activists in the US, who campaign for economic justice and democratic freedom.

more

http://positivenews.org.uk/2014/economics_innovation/15071/goodwill-campaign-frees-thousands-americans-15m-debt/

[dionysus]

1. good work guys.

[marions ghost]

2. That's what I call creative!

[grahamhgreen]

3. WHY DON"T WE HAVE A GOVT PROGRAM TO DO THIS?

[FiveGoodMen]

4. Because every election, the Rs vote for an R and the Dems vote for an R-in-disguise

And people on this site keep telling us that's the best we can do and we should stop complaining.

[bvar22]

14. ^^^THIS^^^

!

[Zorra]

5. Rhetorical question? Cuz, ya know...

[polichick]

8. Does seem like the kind of thing a democratic gov't would do.

[Moostache]

6. That is fantastic work they are doing...

I wish them well in their efforts and hope we can have more things of this nature become the norm rather than the exception...

[tea and oranges]

7. K & R for good news for a change

[leftstreet]

9. +1 strikedebt.org, for anyone interested n/t

[mountain grammy]

10. Occupy is alive and well..

here they are http://rollingjubilee.org/ and here: http://occupywallst.org/

[Bibliovore]

11. Great! But what happened with the rest of the money?

"It has raised $700,000 (£422,000) by crowdsourcing money to buy consumer debt on the secondary debt market for a fraction of its original value. It then spent $300,000 (£181,000) wiping out almost $15m (£9m). "

It's wonderful that they've eliminated so much debt. But per these figures, they spent less than half of what they raised to buy and retire that debt, and I'm curious about what happened to the remaining $400,000. I didn't find that on in the original article or on a quick search; does anyone here have more information?

[leftstreet]

13. Most nonprofits maintain cash reserves

In the case of RJ some of those are donor-instructed

You can download their financials here

http://rollingjubilee.org/transparency/#operations

[Bibliovore]

16. Thank you for this.

[Enthusiast]

12. Kicked and recommended a whole bunch.....nt

[bvar22]

15. Doomed I tell ya!!!