A church in Indiana has helped pay off nearly $8 million in medical debt for almost 6,000 families across the Hoosier State.
Earlier this year, Northview Church teamed up with the New York-based RIP Medical Debt, leveraging donations totaling more than $40,000 to erase millions of dollars in unpaid medical debts, according to WGCL-TV.
In a blog post published in late September, the church confirmed it paid off $7.8 million in medical debt for 5,940 families in Indianapolis, Anderson, Carmel, Fishers, Flora, Kokomo, Lafayette, northern Putnam County, Peru, and Westfield.
Northview originally announced in June it would be wiping out $2 million in medical debt for 2,500 families. But since then, an additional $20,000 in donations came in from Northview attenders.
“This is a great example of churches meeting people’s needs in practical ways as a demonstration of God’s love,” said Steve Poe, senior pastor of Northview.
Though Northview’s congregation totals around 10,000 people, church staff said recipients will not necessarily be connected to the multisite church and “will be surprised to receive beneficiary letters in the mail in the coming few weeks, communicating about the canceled debt.”