Faith Leaders For Healthcare
TAKE ACTION
Meet Your Legislator
As faith leaders, your voices carry deep moral authority in your communities — and lawmakers need to hear from you.
We invite clergy and members of congregations to meet with your state and federal representatives to lift up a clear and urgent call: protect Medicaid funding and safeguard access to care for the communities you serve. These face-to-face conversations matter. When legislators hear directly from trusted spiritual leaders about the real-life impact of healthcare decisions, it shapes how they lead.
To join an upcoming delegation or to arrange a visit for your community, please contact Jenny Palaguachi or Jasmine Westbrook. We would be honored to support your participation.
Submit a Moral Voice Op-Ed
As faith leaders and clergy, you witness every day how access to healthcare is not just a policy issue — it is a matter of human dignity, compassion, and moral responsibility.
Right now, federal cuts are creating a Code Red healthcare crisis for New York. As our political leaders negotiate the state budget, they are deciding whether to fully protect New Yorkers from these federal cuts — or allow vulnerable families, seniors and children to bear the burden.
Nothing is final yet. That means your voice can still make a difference. Public leadership from clergy can create public pressure to close the healthcare funding gap, protects hospitals and healthcare workers, and keeps care affordable and accessible for working families.
You can speak to the moral stakes of this moment by writing a letter to the editor of your local paper, urging Albany to fully fund healthcare and shield New Yorkers from cuts to Medicaid.
Here are a few places where you can submit a letter you’ve written:
(Don’t see your local paper listed? Most local newspapers have a “Submit a Letter” page on their website.)
Your letter doesn’t need to belong or perfect. What matters most is that you are speaking out publicly. You can:
- Share what you are seeing in your congregation or community when people struggle to afford care, delay treatment, or skip medicine
- Affirm that healthcare is a reflection of our shared commitment to care for our neighbors
- Call on Albany to fully fund Medicaid in the state budget
- Make clear that federal cuts should not be balanced on the backs of New Yorkers — especially the most vulnerable
Lawmakers pay close attention to local media — especially when faith leaders speak. Your perspective carries moral weight, and your leadership can help shape the outcome of these critical budget decisions.
Your voice matters. Your leadership matters.
Share Your Story
How does access to healthcare affect you, your congregation, or the community you serve?
How would higher costs hurt the families in your pews?
What happens if someone loses coverage — or if a local hospital that so many rely on is forced to close?
As a faith leader, you are entrusted with the stories of your people. Your testimony carries moral weight.
We invite you to record a short video sharing what you are seeing and why protecting healthcare matters to your community. Speak from the heart about the real-life impact of cuts on your congregation.
Add Your Voice
Stand with faith leaders across New York calling for healthcare funding that protects the most vulnerable.
Join the Campaign Today
