Campaigns come and go, and it seems like that’s a rollercoaster a lot of us are tired of, especially in defeat. At the end of it all there’s a lot of broken relationships, distrust, and helplessness. People we consider heroes show us just how human they are as disappointing decisions made for the “greater good” seem to conflict with core principles that we hold dear.
I believe a lot of us need a place to harness those feelings. No matter how many friends we have on social media, there is a huge world around us and a lot of work to be done in it. When I first moved to PA, I met a few local activists and started to volunteer for Put People First! PA, a grassroots organization that advocates for healthcare as a human right. This work was being done even before Bernie’s first run in 2016. A few months in I became a father, left the organization, ran for political office that led to subsequent work in the races of others. I soon hit the repeated brick wall of campaigning.
I became extremely tired of that and really wanted a soft place to land so I reached out to Nijmie, a Co-founder of Put People First! PA and was accepted with open arms. I immediately saw the growth and was quick to realize that this was a moving machine that hadn’t stopped at all. I immediately joined the PPF-PA direct action at governor Wolf’s house demanding he take action within his executive powers to protect the health and safety of his citizens here in PA.
This isn’t a joke or a flimsy organization that can die with the defeat of any candidate. It’s a people powered grassroots organization that breaks through party lines and connects us through the basis of which we all have to operate, our health and healthcare as a human right.
So this is my ask of anyone in PA feeling disillusioned or angry with what lies ahead. Leadership is in a lot of us. If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t be at war with a power structure that’s so many seem too easily bend to. It’s great to have political leaders, but it’s also our job to aggressively push or even break those in power to represent us starting with local officials and continuing up the ladder. There are many roles to fill and work to do, but I’m confident this is where I belong and where leadership can flourish.
So I ask you to join us at Put People First! PA and the only commitment you have to make is your desire to see people living healthy and dignified lives. Like and follow our Facebook page, sign up to get involved, https://www.putpeoplefirstpa.org/medicaid-army/ and let’s get organized!
by Frances Gilmore, Montgomery County Healthcare Rights Committee
We’ve all experienced quarantine now, not bad for those with roomy living space, very tough for families crowded into small spaces, for undocumented families receiving no government benefits, and for the unhoused community.
But imagine quarantine in a cage. That’s what thousands of people are experiencing in Pennsylvania’s state prisons. Imagine this fate if you are old, sick, or in prison for a very minor offense. Your prison time could be a death sentence, as COVID-19 spreads. A group of deeply concerned residents began a 2-week hunger strike on May 28 to demand the release of large groups of prisoners. PPF-PA is one of dozens of groups endorsing the strike.
Here are excerpts from the opening of their letter to Gov Wolf:
“…We demand that you take immediate action to minimize the spread of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania prisons and prevent the unnecessary deaths of potentially thousands of people….You took an important first step by using your constitutional power of reprieve to make 1,800 people eligible for release from Pennsylvania prisons. However, in the six weeks since you signed your reprieve, only 153 people have been released. Your response to this situation is negligent.
We are asking you to take additional urgent action to protect the lives of thousands of people before it is too late. There are currently 45,654 people locked in Pennsylvania state prisons, where social distancing is impossible and access to medical care is severely limited. Incarcerated people are more medically vulnerable than the general population, with approximately 40% suffering from a chronic health condition….We know that you, Tom Wolf, have full unlimited power of reprieve….In your hands, you hold the lives of more people than the entire population of your hometown of York. We will make this known with our entire bodies until you use your powers to prevent these deaths…”
Here is a summary of the group’s demands:
Demand 1: Accelerate the release of the 1,800 individuals eligible under the reprieve order signed April 10. Demand 2: Expand the reprieve order by offense type, time served, age, medical conditions and include people incarcerated for technical violations of parole, which would otherwise not be considered crimes. Demand 3: Stem the tide of admissions to state prisons by expanding the order of reprieve to suspend sentences for new technical violations of parole or probation. Demand 4: Sign all three commutation applications for commutation of individuals sentenced to life without parole, all recommended by the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons. Demand 5: Ensure that individuals released from custody have access to safe housing, food, and medical care. Demand 6: The Governor and Secretary of Corrections must implement measures to ensure prevention, access to testing, and appropriate medical care for those who remain incarcerated. Demand 7: Issue an Emergency Removal Order (ERO) on the Berks County Residential Center and release all families to either relatives or a sponsor. BCRC has been operating without a license since 2016, when the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services revoked it. As summarized by Pennsylvania Immigration & Citizenship Coalition, BCRC violates federal and state law.
Individuals can support the strike by: Using social media to publicize and tweet the governor Sign up to do a one-day hunger strike in support of the cause Write your own letter to the governor
Photo from NEPA Car Caravan in Solidarity with Nursing Home residents and workers. To read more check out previous blog post.
Statewide Call Report Back Our May Statewide Membership Call had five dozen participants from across the state tuning in for a chance to dialogue with special guests Dr. Armen Henderson of the Dream Defenders and Kristin Colangelo of the National Union of the Homeless. Dr. Henderson made national news when police detained him in front of his home as he was leaving to deliver free COVID-19 testing to unhoused residents. The call covered conditions on the ground in Florida and Pennsylvania, similarities in our organizing models and lessons learned. It also provided a chance to link the National Union of the Homeless which is currently building chapters around the country, with the Dream Defenders, whose recent work has focused heavily on providing services and support to the homeless.
Join our next Statewide Membership Call Thursday June 18th from 7-8:30 pm.
Johnstown HRC takes Covid-19 needs to Johnstown City Council Johnstown Healthcare Rights Committee prepared and presented a local list of funding and other needs to Johnstown City Council at a virtual meeting on Wednesday May 13th.. Johnstown is expected to receive $760k Covid-19 Relief Aid monies and after several weeks there has been little transparency regarding the use of those funds. Kiki from our Johnstown HRC spoke to council about our concerns with committing funds to meet the needs local resident’s rent and utility forgiveness needs. Johnstown’s WJAC-TV covered our list of needed funds disbursements transparency and the addition of convenient Covid-19 testing sites in the city. The Johnstown HRC is planning follow-up regarding community Covid-19 funding and other needs.
Philadelphia Healthcare Rights Committee Socialist Alternative invited PPF-PA to speak on a town hall meeting about the Philadelphia city budget on Thursday, May 25. Mayor Kenney is proposing an austerity budget that would slash funding for public programs, when what we need instead is a moral budget that centers the needs of the poor and dispossessed, in this crisis and beyond. Jae represented the Philly HRC, speaking about the fight for Hahnemann Hospital, the need to address the root causes of the problems that harm working class people and how our power comes through organization! Other speakers included city workers, organizers with PASNAP, the Sunrise Movement, and City Council Member Kendra Brooks. Click here for the video.
Mon Valley, Pittsburgh Healthcare Rights Committee Press Conference On May 19th, Mon Valley and Pittsburgh HRCs hosted a joint press conference with the Abolitionist Law Center as well as local politicians, Mayor Nickole Nesby of Duquesne and County Councilperson Bethany Hallam. During the press conference, multiple speakers called for expanded COVID-19 testing throughout Allegheny County. We specifically targeted Allegheny County Jail, Kane Senior Centers, and low income communities where there are transportation barriers to testing sites.
Five reporters were in attendance and we received press coverage in multiple outlets featuring quotes from HRC members across the state. Allegheny County Council members, that same day, decided to wait to vote on a bill that would secure testing in the county jail. Both HRCs plan to continue to take action with partner organizations and local government officials to further address the need to expand testing.
Montgomery County Healthcare Rights Committee This is a statement/Letter to the Editor that Montgomery County HRC wrote that was posted in the Norristown Patch.
Lancaster Healthcare Rights Committee Meeting with Representative Bryan Cutler report back The Lancaster Healthcare Rights Committee met with Representative Bryan Cutler recently to discuss our healthcare as a human right platform. He has agreed to continue to meet with us and work with us in establishing a Public Healthcare Advocate for Pennsylvania. He seemed to have similar views and feelings in regards to St. Joseph’s hospital as we do in relation to when it was St. Joseph’s hospital and not when it was operated by the other entities. He also expressed concern on how the closure of St. Joseph’s hospital has affected the community of Lancaster, PA and is in agreement with us that we need more healthcare resources on the southern end of Lancaster County. Cutler expressed as it stands it’s closer for residents on the southern end of Lancaster County like himself to go to John Hopkins in Baltimore Maryland versus a hospital in Lancaster County, PA.
Lancaster Healthcare Rights Committee “Projects of Survival” Sign up to join the Lancaster Healthcare Rights Committee and partners in our “Projects of Survival!” What is a Project of Survival? A Project of Survival is a method of connecting people, both materially and politically.
Put People First! PA has several established “Projects of Survival” from our leadership development across differences, political education to our “Community Care Fund” a fund utilized to meet the material needs of our leaders, i.e. rent, utility payments and other basic necessities. These “Projects of Survival” are essential to our movement in organizing to fight for our basic human rights.
In Lancaster we are expanding on our already existing “Projects of Survival.” ie Lancaster Homeless Union, holding healthcare profiteers and our elected officials accountable. We are now expanding to add a connection to meet material needs & a Human Rights House for Lancaster County, a space to house leaders of the movement and serve as a communal resource for the poor and dispossessed of Lancaster County and the greater movement.
Such a movement combining a plan to both meet the material needs of and development of leaders has the potential to “’expose larger society to moral failures and contradictions, and make demands and claims on the power of the state” (Sandweiss-Back, 2020, p. 6). Read more at: https://kairoscenter.org/beyond-mutual-aid/
To join our “Projects of Survival” fill out our survey at bit.ly/LancasterProjectsOfSurvival
From the frontlines: The First Northeast PA Healthcare Rights Committee Action!
On Sunday May 17th, the Northeast PA Healthcare Rights Committee took their first public action with a car caravan of solidarity to nursing home workers and residents. Community members including healthcare workers from Luzerne, Lackawanna, Wayne and Philadelphia Counties joined the caravan which travelled to The Gardens, the Jewish Home, and Mountainview.
Speakers included Jessica Fratzola, a member of the NEPA HRC and an LPN, and Kristin Colangelo, member of the Philadelphia Healthcare Rights Committee whose son, a member of the National Guard, was called up to assist with the nursing home crisis. Members of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP) also participated in the caravan. Check out coverage of the action in the Scranton Times-Tribuneand Fox 56.
If you’re interested in getting involved in Northeast PA, call into the next Healthcare Rights Committee Meeting June 4th. More information here.
