A pastor sits on a pew in a church. The pastor is wearing a tan suit with a dark multicolored tie.
People in Pastor John Jackman’s North Carolina community are saddled with medical debt. He works to address their immediate needs with medical debt relief while keeping focus on the long-term goal: building community power to end medical debt for good.
“Medical debt is now a universal problem… no matter what your income level is, you can have a pretty good job and a long hospitalization can put you in debt.”
– Pastor John Jackman, North Carolina medical debt relief advocate

As a pastor and community leader in North Carolina, Pastor John Jackman is a trusted confidant to many North Carolinians. In the past several years, he has heard more and more from members of his congregation about hospital stays and medical debt that made it impossible for them to meet other basic needs, like paying their electric and water bills. 

Pastor Jackman is now focused on both immediate and long-term solutions to address the medical debt in his church, community, and state. In partnership with his community, he raises money to provide immediate medical debt relief for North Carolinians. 

But Pastor Jackman’s work does not stop at providing medical debt relief. 

“What we’re doing [with medical debt relief] is putting a little tiny band-aid on a gushing wound.”
– Pastor John Jackman, North Carolina medical debt relief advocate

Pastor Jackman advocates for long-term solutions that will end medical debt completely and stop people from being in situations where they are choosing between health care and other basic needs. He encourages others to build power by contacting their elected officials to end medical debt.