The HealthcareWithHeart Video Documentary has been updated and is available for viewing here. Click on the “You Tube” icon at the bottom right of the screen to view the 6.5 minute video on a larger screen.
|
|||||
|
The HealthcareWithHeart Documentary will premiere tomorrow (Saturday, August 29th) at the Healthcare Forum in Charlotte as part of statewide pro healthcare reform rallies in North Carolina. The “Healthcare Reform Educational Forum” will be at the Greater Mount Sinai Baptist Church 1243 West Blvd. from 3:30 – 6 pm. The documentary will be aired at approximately 5 pm. It’s exciting that both Rhonda Robinson (of Durham) and Kay Zwan (of Wilmington) plan to be in attendance. Neither have seen any portions of the 7 1/2 minute video. Thanks to all the volunteers for creating this opportunity and this video.
Greetings! Just to report that the HealthcareWithHeart Documentary is undergoing final editing and production. A process of review and suggestions is making its way to the inbox (and voicemail) of freelance producer/editor Daniel Cook. Daniel is currently sequestered and being monitored by the HealthcareWithHeart java junkie team. His reward includes pizza on Thursday with the Leadership Team of the NC Democratic Party in Raleigh. The Documentary will be presented at that time as an exclusive preview in advance of Saturday’s statewide Democratic Executive Committee meeting in Charlotte. Will the Documentary premier in Charlotte this weekend? Please check back later to find out.
The HealthcareWithHeart campaign made its internet debut today with a diary at the popular Daily Kos Website and crossposted at BlueNC. Excerpts include the following: Amidst the rancor and the tumult and the seemingly endless (and mindless) riveting punditry presented by mainstream media, somehow the narrative of meaningful healthcare reform in America has been reduced to covering tracking polls and the latest whopper or outrageous behavior of nutjobs living in their “miniverse.” In the meantime, a neighbor just found out that not only will her insurance company not cover a biopsy for the lump in her breast, the hospital is requiring payment – up front and in cash. Cash that she does not have. And Rhonda pays more for medication than she does for rent. She can’t get health insurance because of her pre-existing condition and struggles just to get by having to ration her life saving medication in order to make ends meet. It’s time to put “faces and voices” back into the healthcare debate. And that’s what we are doing in North Carolina. Hello? We have nearly 1.6 million residents with no healthcare insurance in North Carolina. More than 10,000 of our families will be forced into bankruptcy because of health related issues this year. People can’t retire, can’t change their jobs, and can’t start new businesses because of the health insurance practices in this country. And someone in every family is one disease or one accident away from finding out first hand what it means to have to fight for your health while having to fight the healthcare insurance industry. This is wrong and needs to change. Now we have gathered thousands of signatures on petitions, collected and delivered thousands of postcards and letters, placed thousands of phone calls, and visited our elected Congressional leaders in their offices. And it is still not enough. What more can we do? A new initiative, dubbed HealthcareWithHeart, was formed to complement the traditional ways to communicate with our elected leaders (and with each other). In the past two weeks, volunteers have pooled together their resources and talent to create a website that folks can share and view personal healthcare stories on video. The Website is up and running, albeit in a nascent form. Copy and paste (if you must) at http://healthcarewithheart.org
And professional videographers (many with their own healthcare stories) have embarked on a project to create a documentary to portray the struggles and the daily realities of living within a healthcare system that is simply broken. This is to invite you to visit the Website and follow our progress. Perhaps you will order a T-shirt to help the cause or even make a small donation for the documentary production team. A primary goal is to produce a compelling documentary that will find its way into the offices of all our NC Congressional leaders and to share our personal healthcare stories. Of course, the canvassing and the phone calls and the office visits are important and will continue. Please feel free to share your comments and share a link to this diary with others. Thanks
This website exists thanks to the efforts of several volunteers, especially Thao (the water) and Darrell (the wizard). As content is added to the website, there is also a group working on a documentary helping to add voices and faces to the need for meaningful healthcare reform. The project is affectionately dubbed “Mission Impossible” by the team of volunteer professional videographers and production specialists assembled under the HealthcareWithHeart banner. Part of the passion for the project stems from the personal healthcare stories of the people behind the camera. One is a twenty something male burdened with $800 monthly insurance premiums with a $3000 deductible. Another works at a well known bookstore twenty hours a week just to have healthcare benefits and can’t risk starting her own video production business for fear of not having health insurance. Another has a girlfriend whose best friend was recently informed by her insurance company that she must pay upfront and in cash for the biopsy needed for the lump in her breast (money she does not have). Another reports having to battle both her medical condition and her health insurance company every day. And the list and stories go on and on. The goal is to produce a documentary for public viewing on August 29th. With a few compelling interviews “in the can,” additional footage is being shot, logged, and edited into final production. If you would like to support this effort, please make a donation on the donation page. Here is a description of the project: HealthcareWithHeart Documentary The documentary features the emotional trials faced by average North Carolina citizens having to deal with their personal healthcare issues in a healthcare system that is not working for them. Lost in the debate over healthcare reform legislation is the fact that American families are one illness or one accident away from financial ruin and must face impossible healthcare choices affecting their families. The documentary is a clarion call to our elected Congressional leaders to be on the side of the people that elected them. Meaningful healthcare reform is a civil rights issue and the need for change is right here and right now. Recording the personal healthcare stories and the making of the HealthcareWithHeart documentary is a grassroots effort culminating with a public presentation (to be determined) and ultimately destined for delivery to our North Carolina elected representatives in Washington, DC. http://HealthcareWithHeart.org For more information contact: Jon Parker, jon@HealthcareWithHeart.org or 919.880.9450 (m)
WECT News of Wilmington attended today’s press conference and featured a news story covering the event on both the 5 and 6 o’clock news. Thanks to the follow up efforts by Clancy, an article also appeared in the Wilmington Star newspaper. Here is a copy of the press release: PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release: Monday, August 17, 2009 HealthcareWithHeart Website Launched Grassroots activists supporting meaningful health care reform announced the launch of HealthcareWithHeart.org on the steps of Representative McIntyre and Senator Richard Burr’s offices today in Wilmington, North Carolina. The goal is to gather and share personal and collective video stories of the need for meaningful health care reform during the August, 2009 recess of Congress. “Disease and disabilities don’t discriminate, but health care insurance companies do. And that needs to change” local resident Kay Zwan explained. A 2 minute video published by NC Justice Center of Ms. Zwan’s personal health care story is featured on the new Website http://healthcarewithheart.org Jon Parker, program organizer, stated that the website is a place for citizens to learn about and share their personal health care stories on video. Parker states “HealthcareWithHeart offers an additional means for constituents to communicate with elected representatives besides letters and phone calls.” The website is organized into the 13 U.S. Congressional districts in North Carolina for easy navigation. Nearly 150,000 residents were uninsured and 750 families were forced into health related bankruptcies in Representative McIntyre’s district in 2008, according to a report released by the House Committee on Ways and Means in July, 2009. Statewide, the report indicates that more than 1.5 million residents were uninsured and 9000 health related bankruptcies were declared in 2008. North Carolina residents are invited to visit http://HealthcareWithHeart.org to view, share, and document personal healthcare stories. North Carolina artist, Steven R. Miller, contributed the logo for use by HealthcareWithHeart. Plans for the group include creating a documentary to deliver to North Carolina Congressional leaders in Washington, DC. Jon Parker, program coordinator, jon@healthcarewithheart.org, 919.880.9450
Special thanks to the volunteers making contributions to HealthcareWithHeart including: Diane, Karen, Michael (the Brain), Thao (the Water), Kathy, Bill, Cathy, Candice, Klaus, Susan, Eric, Tom, Marge, Randy, Dwayne, Scott, Kathy, Patricia, Mike, Angela, Clancy, Kay, Eddie, Ed, Kendy, Christine, Matt, Lori, Lindsay, Gregory, Avery, John, Steven R. Miller, Kay, Pat, Rhonda, Elena, Blaire (ahoy!), Kevin, Daniel, and Darrell (the wizard).
|
|||||
|
Copyright © 2010 HealthcareWithHeart.org - All Rights Reserved |
|||||
