There are several reasons why I wanted to go on (and organize) a spring break of service at Montevallo. I've been teaching in higher education for almost ten years, and I've never led or participated in any kind of direct service learning experience in any of my classes. When the opportunity to do so arose, I realized this was a great time to start.
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| Andrew Battista with Cromwell the Falcon, who will not be attending the trip |
I've also always cared passionately about health care access, and I think it's our civic shame that almost one fifth of all U.S. citizens (47.3 million people who are non-elderly) have
no health insurance coverage whatsoever, even though we have by far the most productive economy (
if one uses GDP as a measure). The whole problem of access to health care dawned on me when I was working temporarily in a factory during one summer in my college years. A guy in the line next to me accidentally drilled a hole in his hand and he unleashed an epic stream of obscenities. He wasn't yelling because he was in pain, he told me, but rather that he was afraid the factory would make him claim workplace compensation for the injury and then eventually fire him because of his carelessness. He told me that he didn't have any health care coverage, and he said that he was already on thin ice financially because he developed appendicitis earlier in the year. The hospital bill was something a person working a near-minimum wage job could never pay.
The place we're going in Escambia County, AL is one of the most highly uninsured populations in the state. I'm glad we'll be able to talk with people and perhaps connect them with health care coverage they can actually afford. I look forward to the trip!
We'll be (or are) one group among hundreds of college students in Alabama who are helping people find access to affordable health care. Check out the story of De'Von Cross, who was recently profiled on The Root, or the story of Marlan Golden, who was profiled in Ian Reifowitz's story for Daily Kos.