My name is Yaitza E. Corona, coming to you from Consentino Middle School. I’m an eighth-grader and as you may or may not know, around the end of the school year all eighth grade students are asked to choose a topic we care about and take steps toward making a positive change in our community.

The topic that really intrigued me and a few other students in my class (e.g., Lizaudy De La Cruz Polanco, Richard Marinez, Ayden Brown, Jeylin Nunez Perez, and Hailey Lora) was healthcare affordability. The ABA (American Bar Association) tells us that hospitals charge 10 times more than the cost of production for their services.The American health association highlights that more than half of the debt in the US is due to medical expenses. We’ve been learning about how many families struggle to pay medical bills and how medical debt can push people deeper into poverty and our plan to support these families in our community who are struggling with healthcare costs is an online fundraiser.

We believe everyone deserves access to healthcare without the fear of going bankrupt so to help families struggling with medical debt, we put up this fundraiser. Our goal is to raise $500 to $1,000 to donate to Dollar For, a nonprofit organization that helps people eliminate medical debt by advocating for hospital charity care.

Every dollar counts. We would be so grateful if you could help by donating or sharing our fundraiser. Together, we can help ease the burden for families who need it most.