My heart got stretched today. I went over to the Knox County (TN) Democratic HQ to see what's up. Kim asked if I wanted to volunteer at a health clinic in Roane County this weekend. I said, "Sure", assuming she meant a health fair... you know, free cholesterol screenings, low fat recipes... No. We are going into the heart of what is broken in this country. We are going on a Remote Area Medical expedition.
Remote Area Medical (RAM)... People of a certain age (including me) will remember Stan Brock on Wild Kingdom. In his travels he saw people being disabled or killed by easily treatable medical conditions. In 1985 he established RAM to provide medical services. The RAM website History page says, "he vowed to find a way to deliver basic medical aid to people in the world's inaccessible regions." Two paragraphs down it says that 60% of RAM expeditions are to areas in rural America. Many events are in Appalachia, although last month there was an expedition to the remote outpost of Los Angeles. Here is a list of the services provided. Note that it says, "...be prepared to wait. Your wait may be long." Your wait may be long.
Now click here to watch a video made for 60 Minutes. No, wait... for the cynical, please note that the date of the video is March, 2008, well before there was a President Obama calling for health care reform. It wasn't made to influence the current debate. Also notice that some people in the video have health insurance. OK, now click. The video lasts around 12 minutes.
"...be prepared to wait. Your wait may be long." Before I saw the video, I thought I would volunteer for a couple of hours. Like I said in the intro, my heart was stretched today. Now I'm thinking expedition. It's a non-partisan organization, but I imagine there will be conversations about health care. I'm not sure how to do that part. Please make suggestions in the comments if you have experience with this kind of situation. I need your advice.
The title? You saw hearts of gold in the video. They are out in the front lines of the health care crisis. The hearts of coal lie petrified in the chests of people who send emails that itemize the fascist, socialist imperatives buried in the latest HCR bill. I think I'm going to tell them we can talk after they watch this video...
ACTION:
I had no idea what was going on in my own back yard. I didn't know that this organization existed before today. I went to the county Democratic HQ to see how I could help. Go on... drive over to your local Dem HQ and walk in the door. Who knows what is going on this weekend where you live.