JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – What if all of your medical debt was canceled? This was a reality for more than 900 families across Mississippi because of The Word Center Church.
“All through scripture Jesus relieved people of their burdens, and so we’re just being an expression of what we believe,” said Pastor Roderick Richardson.
For exactly 955 families, the burden totaled $1.4 million. The Word Center Church partnered with RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit organization that works to give debt rather than collect.
“What they do is purchase it, and then we buy it at a wholesale price. So, debt is eliminated whether it’s $50 or $100 dollars. In the last four or five months, we negotiated the areas we want to target and geographical location, and we settled on an amount that we want to relieve, and we just went forward with it.”
Richardson said the church has given back to the community many times before, but this time, they wanted to have a lifelong impact.
People in the community said they are happy to hear so many people’s medical debt was canceled, and Richardson said the ministry hopes to purchase a home or car for multiple families.