St. Bede's Church in Santa Fe helps pay off $1.4M in medical debt for 782 households
Jul. 18—It has been said a dollar doesn't go very far these days, but a local church used $15,000 to wipe out $1.4 million in medical debt for hundreds of struggling households.
St. Bede's Episcopal Church in Santa Fe applied $15,000 in donations to clear up eligible New Mexicans' medical debt that had gone to collections — and had money left over to aid people in half a dozen Arizona counties.
"You feel like you're changing lives with this," St. Bede's spokeswoman Peg Maish said. "It's not just writing a check. It feels more personal."
The church worked with RIP Medical Debt, a New York-based nonprofit that buys debt at a fraction of the amount owed for households with incomes at less than twice the poverty level.
Instead of collecting on the debt, as other buyers would do, RIP erases it, Maish it.
"We use all of the money to abolish debt," RIP spokesman Daniel Lempert wrote in an email, referring to St. Bede's donations.
In all, they cleared the debt of 782 households. That includes all New Mexico households that qualified for RIP's service, and households from six Arizona counties.
RIP was founded by two former debt collection executives. In 2020, the organization abolished $1.7 billion in debt for over 830,000 people.
RIP is sending letters to St. Bede's beneficiaries informing them they no longer owe their medical debts. It's also contacting credit agencies to verify the debt has been paid and ensure the people's credit histories have been cleared.
"St. Bede's Episcopal Church has paid off the medical debt you have been struggling with for the past number of years. No strings attached," the letter says.
Lempert said no beneficiaries were available for interviews because of strict privacy policies.
The church was able to take part in this charity because 10 percent of its donations are set aside each week for community outreach, the Rev. Catherine Volland said in a statement.
"I don't know if this parish has ever funded a program with such a great impact," Volland said.
Maish said the church decided to help Arizona residents after eligible New Mexicans' medical debts were paid, and they wanted to focus on areas where the Navajo Nation was hard-hit during the coronavirus pandemic.
This effort has inspired organizations throughout the country to inquire how they can offer a similar charitable debt relief — something that Maish said is gratifying.
"What we do helps people; that's great," Maish said. "But if other people get on board, that's an additional multiplication of blessing."
