$26,349.90
raised of $35,000 goal
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Campaign Created ByBuilding Beloved Community

Building Beloved Community Campaign

In 2022, the Session of First Presbyterian Church in Durham, NC voted to set aside $50,000 from our capital campaign to help eliminate debt for our neighbors in NC who have been saddled with overwhelming medical bills. Our first of three campaigns raised $26,000 and paid off $5 million in medical debt in NC in Durham and other counties in NC. Our first campaign targeted NC counties where people of color makeup over 50% of the population.   We did this to acknowledge and seek to repair (in a small way) the systemic racism that has left people of color in generational poverty and oppression.

We are not done yet!  We invite you to join us in this second of three campaigns which targets the counties with the greatest number of people of color in their boundaries (including Wake, Guilford, Forsyth, and Mecklenburg).  We do this as an additional effort to repair the damage that centuries of racial oppression has inflicted upon our siblings of color.

Joshua Eaton writes in the journal Sojourners:

Almost one in 10 American adults owes at least $250 in medical debt, according to a report released by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation last year. Of those, 11 million owed more than $2,000 and 3 million owed more than $10,000, the report found. And that burden fell most heavily on communities of color, the disabled, and those without health insurance.

Some churches’ RIP Medical Debt campaigns draw on the biblical concept of a Jubilee year from Leviticus 25, where God commands all debts be forgiven every 50 years.

Our campaign theme, “Building Beloved Community,” reflects the vision of philosopher Josiah Royce that was adopted and expanded by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Elder Sharon Hirsch of First Presbyterian Church in Durham has been a significant leader and voice for these campaigns.  She points to her faith, and her belief that we are to love our neighbors, as that which guides her in this work. “That’s core to what the biblical message is. And this is such a tangible way to put our prayers into action.”

In this second campaign, First Presbyterian Church in Durham is excited to partner with our sister congregation, University Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill, NC.  Together, we will seed thecampaign with two significant gifts that total $27,000.  We invite other faith communities, neighbors, and individuals in North Carolina to contribute to this campaign or start your own.  Together, we can eliminate medical debt among those at 4x the poverty level and below!

Though our goal for this campaign is $35,000, we would love to see support that lifted the campaign to $50,000!  Every $1 donation can pay off approximately $100 (debts are purchased in bundles for a fraction of the original amount). 100% of campaign contributions are restricted to debt relief.

At the end of the campaign, RIP Medical Debt sends a letter to those whose debt is forgiven. When debt relief recipients open the letter from RIP, they will read that their debt has been bought and abolished with no strings attached, including no tax penalty. Having endured, in some cases, years of harassment, mental stress, and stigma associated with medical debt, this notice is truly a beacon of light and hope.

We hope you will join us in this exciting campaign that makes a real and lasting difference in those saddled with the weight of debt.  Help us build the beloved community by leveling the playing field and moving closer to a place where all, and not just some, might flourish.  


Campaign Support Recipients
North Carolina
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$26,349.90
raised of $35,000 goal
75%
Donate by Check
  • Recent Donations
  • Donor Avatar
    Kathryn P. just donated $128
  • Donor Avatar
    Chris B. just donated $26.80
  • Donor Avatar
    Eugene A B. just donated $128

Fundraise for This Campaign

Start a fundraiser to help those in need. Set a personal fundraising goal and track online donations easily with RIP.

How RIP Works

Over a hundred million Americans, one in three, struggles with the weight of medical debt.

  • You make a donation

    We use data analytics to pinpoint the debt of those most in need: households that earn less than 4x the federal poverty level (varies by state, family size) or whose debts are 5% or more of annual income.

  • RIP buys medical debt at a steep discount

    We buy debt in bundles, millions of dollars at a time at a fraction of the original cost. This means your donation relieves about 100x its value in medical debt.

  • Together we wipe out medical debt

    People across the country receive letters that their debt has been erased. They have no tax consequences or penalties to consider. Just like that, they’re free of medical debt.


Frequent Questions

Yes. We are a 501(c)(3) charity and your donation is 100% tax deductible.


Relevant Documents:

When we purchase a portfolio of medical debt, we abolish debt for individuals who:

  • Earn less than 4x the federal poverty level (varies by state, family size).
  • Debts are 5 percent or more of annual income.

We only buy debt that has been pre-qualified by our partners to meet at least one of these criteria. 

We never collect on debt we purchase, only relieve it.

No. With your help, we abolish medical debt permanently. Recipients have no adverse tax consequences, obligations, or strings attached.

For those whose medical debts are relieved, the relief is a gift from a detached and disinterested third party (RIP) as an act of generosity, so relief of the debt does not count as income to the debtor. We will not file a Form 1099-C with the IRS.

Due to HIPAA laws, RIP Medical Debt cannot disclose the names, contact information or any other specific details of the debt relief beneficiaries.

RIP Medical Debt cannot relieve debt by individual request.

While we would love to help everyone who needs assistance, RIP Medical Debt cannot abolish medical debt for specific individuals. We approach the problem of medical debt by acquiring large portfolios of debt to help thousands of people at once.

Because medical debt affects so many people who may not have debt accounts in the portfolios we purchase, we have compiled a list of resources that may be able to help in ways RIP Medical Debt cannot.

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Ready to Launch Your Own Debt Relief Campaign?