Last year, Central Florida Jobs with Justice joined forces with faith leaders, healthcare advocates, and residents carrying the weight of medical debt to deliver a clear demand to Orange County Commissioners: use pandemic relief funds to cancel medical debt. We shared stories of families drained by impossible choices: rent or prescriptions, groceries or hospital bills. We pushed commissioners to partner with Undue Medical Debt, transforming $4.5 million in public funds into nearly half a billion dollars in relief. We rallied outside government buildings, held press conferences, and refused to let decision-makers look away.

Today, that relentless organizing has delivered one of the largest medical debt cancellations in Florida history: over 300,000 residents freed from $472.5 million in crushing debt. This is what happens when communities lead and governments listen.

Florida families shoulder some of the nation's heaviest medical debt burdens, where a single illness can unravel years of financial stability. This win stands as proof of co-governance in action. When we organize not as outsiders begging for change, but as partners in governance demanding what’s ours, we don’t just move mountains: we redistribute the very ground beneath them.

If you're among the 300,000 who received a cancellation letter, tell us how this relief has impacted you, whether it meant keeping the lights on, accessing long-delayed care, or simply sleeping through the night. These stories arm our movement with what no statistic can convey.

One hospital bill at a time, we’re re-writing what’s possible ☀️