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POWER's Healthcare Truth Commission
A HUGE SUCCESS!!!
Tuesday June 10th, 6:00-8:30PM 
Community Public Access, 516 Congress St, Portland, ME
Co-sponsored by POWER & MSEA-SEIU Local 1989
Flyer: PDF | Word    Handout: PDF | Word 
For more information contact POWER.

    "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking & inhumane."
          --Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

On June 10, 2008 POWER hosted a Healthcare Truth Commission, co-sponsored by MSEA-SEIU Local 1989, where we shined a light on some of the healthcare rights violations happening in our community. About 60 people joined us at this event, the purpose of which was to call attention to these human rights violations & expose the true scope of the healthcare crisis currently affecting thousands here in Maine & millions more across the country, so that we may be able to unite together as a community and bring about the changes we need to end this crisis and win our human right to healthcare for all.

At POWER's Healthcare Truth Commission we heard the fifteen compelling testimonies of fifteen courageous Testifiers who spoke out & shared their experiences struggling to meet their health needs. In addition, nine people of conscience from throughout our community served as Truth Commissioners to officially witness and address these testimonies.

The stories we shared and witnessed were nothing short of incredible. Together we were moved, inspired, devestated, enraged, and, importantly, we were uplifted by the amazing sense of pride, determination, resilience, dignity, and hope shared by all those who testified, each of whom is a survivor in their own right of what amounts to a uniquely American injustice.... Thanks to these brave individuals who dared enough to stand up and speak their truth, those of us who dared enough to listen learned exactly why this injustice must end. And all told, by the end of the evening there was not a heart among us left untouched, nor a soul left unstirred.

In turn, our Truth Commissioners took the stage to present compassionate and inspiring responses, each of which managed to reflect, in their own way, the shared sense of gravity, courage, urgency, and hope inherent in the testimonies witnessed by all. And they spoke to the fact that, while these testimonies were indeed powerfully moving, it's not just our hearts that must be moved -- our feet must move as well, such that we can collectively move forward and take the action that is needed to end this healthcare crisis.

In bearing witness to these important testimonies, not only were we better able to understand the nature of this healthcare crisis & the real life impact it is having on so many of our lives; it also provided us with an important opportunity to come together as a community and confront this crisis & demand change. And now we need to share this message with as many members of our community as we possibly can. To this end, POWER's Video Committee is now busily preparing the video footage of this event, which will be shown on Public Access here in Portland and throughout the state of Maine (if you can help with this effort please call us: 650-5092) and to present at screenings with various community organizations. Once completed, we'll post some this video footage right here on our website, along with photographs from the event. Also in the works is a booklet of the testimonies & commissioner responses, which we hope to have compiled by early/mid August. So please stay tuned & check back for updates!!! 

Dr. King also said "There comes a time when silence is betrayal... The truth must be told..."
At POWER's Healthcare Truth Commission, we told the truth about healthcare injustice. But it doesn't end here -- it CAN'T end here. For those of us who are dying for healthcare here in Maine and across this great nation, we MUST continue to speak out, break the silence, & tell the truth about this healthcare crisis & demand our human right to healthcare. And we will continue to invite all those who care about healthcare justice to join us in this effort. We need to stick together! Only when we come together as a united and organized force can we truly go "beyond the dream" and make universal single payer healthcare a reality, for all of us. Like POWER's motto says, when we unite to claim our rights, together we have POWER!" What do you say?! Are you with us?

POWER wishes to thank everyone who had a role in making this event such a success.
Thanks to all of our Testifiers & those who presented testimony on behalf of others, including:
Grace Braley, Jenn Barton, Kathy Harriman (reading on behalf of Karen), Daren Haslip
(reading on behalf of Tim), Peter Kellman, Rachel Levy, Nikki McLean, Danny Muller,
Antoinette Pezet, Karl Rawstron, Richard Rhames, Chris Rusnov (reading on behalf of Nonnie),
Erica Thompson (reading on behalf of Helen Hanson), Jesse Vear, and Charles Veit, III;
thanks to all of our Truth Commissioners, including: Rep. Herb Adams, Peggy Akers, CNP,
Chris Hastedt, Dr. Robert Hayes, DO, Michael Hiltz, RN, Bruce Hodsdon, Sara Gagné Holmes,
Rev. Elsa Peters, and Rev. Jill Saxby; thanks to those who volunteered on our Video Crew,
including: Bill Blood, Alan Brown, Stacey Canas, Jesse Flynn, Jeffrey Phillips, Travis, and
Mike Sylvester; our photographers: Sarah Bigney & Kathy Harriman; thanks to POWER
members Jenn Barton & Sarah Bigney who, in addition to all of their other hats, shared the
podium as Master of Ceremonies; thanks to POWER member Christopher Teret for sharing
his incredible and inspiring musical talents; members of MSEA-SEIU Local 1989 who helped
in all sorts of ways, from press calls to videography; thanks to MECA for once again lending
us the chairs we needed at next to the very last minute; thanks to POWER member
Allan Watson for manning the POWER table & CTN's Arther Nichols for helping at the
front door; thanks to Lorenzo Raffa who covered the Truth Commission for his radio program
on WMPG Community Radio; and many thanks to EVERYONE who came out & joined us.

And, lastly, but by no means leastly: we wish to thank all the staff and volunteers from
Portland's Community Television Network for once again being so thoroughly instrumental
in making this even possible, by providing the physical space, the equipment, volunteers,
and so many other countless logistics and details, and for providing us the opportunity
to air the footage from this incredible event throughout the Greater Portland Area and
reach thousands of people who otherwise would never have known we existed.
And, above all, we submit our most sincere gratitude to Community Television Network
for all of their contributions to our community as a whole. Because simply put, without CTN,
our voices -- and the voices of countless others throughout our community -- simply would
not be heard. And for that gift, we just can't thank you enough. Sadly, CTN is once again
threatened with potentially very deep budget cuts that could dramatically affect the ability
of the station to continue to operate. If you care about public access, if you believe that
our community deserves to have a voice on the airwaves, & if you value this important resource:
we STRONGLY encourage you to call CTN right now and become a member: 775-2900.
Or join by signing up on CTN's website: www.ctn4maine.org.
  
THANK YOU to everyone who made this event possible!