When New Orleans DSA started our Health Care Committee, there was no candidate we could knock doors for, no single-payer legislation in our state legislature we could root for; our Committee meetings rarely drew more than three or four members. We knew that we needed to grow, and we knew that we needed to envision a path between where we were and our vision of health justice. We needed to bring in new members and new organizers, but to do that, we needed organizing work that new members could get involved in. So we faced a problem that a lot of new chapters and new committees face: how to engage and retain new members, if all we could do was invite them to our next meeting?
The New Orleans DSA Health Fairs grew out of these conditions and challenges. By pairing a concrete political demand (Medicare for All) with a mutual aid project (most notably, the medical debt disputes), we have found a way to build a powerful local Medicare -for -All campaign even under political conditions where single payer can seem like an unattainable, lofty goal.
The New Orleans DSA Health Care Committee held our first Health Fair + Medical Debt Clinic in April of 2018, as part of the first national Medicare for All Weekend of Action, and since then we’ve been holding them every other month. We pick a shady spot in a local park or in the parking lot of a lovely cookbook store, set up some tents and tables, and for a few hours on a Saturday afternoon, we offer what we can to the community: basic health screenings, medical debt dispute assistance using tools from our friends at the Debt Collective, information about local health resources, hot food, cold drinks, and friendly conversation about Medicare for All.
This format has many benefits. A Health Fair can be organized by only a few dedicated members with access to a location, some tables, some tents, and the time to dig up information about local health justice resources. But the work can also expand quickly to accommodate new folks who are interested in getting involved, and there is space in the event for new organizers to incorporate their particular skill set. For example, at our last Health Fair a member who is a professional chef volunteered to make a delicious vegan curry! And at our next Health Fair, we will likely include a table with information on end-of-life care and planning, because one of our members is a social work student with a focus in those topics. Not only are these events opportunities to talk to community members about DSA, socialism and Medicare for All, they are opportunities for chapter members to share their skills and shine. We all have so much to contribute to the socialist project, and it’s crucial to create space for our own strengths and abilities to build our movement.
As we’ve grown and developed this project, we’ve learned some lessons, and we’ve seen more clearly the benefits of such events. While health fairs might not be the right project for every chapter or in every community, they were the perfect fit for the New Orleans DSA Health Care Committee. They helped us:
Develop our organizing skills
The skills that are necessary to hold a successful health fair are also crucial organizing skills: finding a good location; recruiting, scheduling, and training volunteers; promoting your event; talking to strangers about your politics in an approachable way; following up with people that you chatted with, etc.
Increase our membership
Having clear roles and duties to offer to new members is a critical part of growing and building your membership.
Build stronger ties within our chapter
By setting concrete goals and deadlines, we have created a process where we collectively learn how to solve problems, share skills, and share responsibility, which builds our relationships with one another. Plus, it’s really fun! We get to hang out all day with our comrades and further our political demands and meet a need in our community.
Build stronger ties within our community
We always invite other local healthcare organizations to table at our Health Fairs. In the past, we’ve been joined by our local harm reduction collective, a neighborhood health clinic, and a mental health organization, to name a few. This collaboration creates opportunities to unite a wide variety of organizations that are working on health justice issues and tie that work to a political demand: Medicare for All.
We hang out with our neighbors at the Health Fair! People who live nearby come through to get some food, to get some information on health resources, or to get their blood pressure read, and in this way, we can increase the visibility and integrity of our organization, while getting to know our neighbors and inviting them to join our work.
Diagnose a societal problem and prescribe a political remedy
By far, the biggest draws to our events are the medical debt dispute assistance and the health screenings. And these two offerings perfectly highlight the failures of our current for-profit healthcare system. No one should have to go into debt to receive needed medical care, and no one should have to go to a free health fair in a park to get their blood pressure checked. These are opportunities for conversation, for raising issue awareness, and for tying our lived experiences to political goals. Also, DSA members often stop by to get information and guidance about their own medical debt, and at every health fair, at least one or two DSA members opt to get their blood pressure and blood sugar read. In other words, the Health Fairs are not merely community service events: They build real solidarity and real relationships.
And they build real power. We never lose sight of the fact that we have a clear political demand, and as the landscape around that demand has shifted with the introduction of the Medicare for All Act of 2019 and other developments, our tactics and aims have shifted with it. We started collecting signatures on a petition that calls on our congressional representative, Cedric Richmond, to support Medicare for All. We began coordinating our Medicare for All work with another DSA chapter in our congressional district by conducting weekly conference calls. We submitted letters to the editor and op-eds urging him to co-sponsor the bill. We had established ourselves as an effective and energetic organization, so it wasn’t hard to launch our pressure campaign and attract media attention. Our pressure campaign has also strengthened our existing door-to-door canvassing conversations, because now we have a very clear ask to canvassees: Call Representative Richmond and ask him to co-sponsor the bill.
But phone calls, op-eds, and signatures alone are not enough. We have to continue to grow our membership, and we have to be organized and ready to mobilize. Our Health Fairs accomplish those aims, and they also strengthen us. When we are well-fed, healthy and not burdened by debt, we can focus on other aspects of our lives. When we trust each other and know what it means to work alongside one another, we are better prepared as an organization to fight for the things we all deserve.
DSA New Orleans is currently working on a Health Fair DIY Guide for other chapters, similar to the Brake Light Clinic DIY Guide we released last year. The guide will outline all the reasons why your chapter should launch a Health Fair and tell you everything you need to know to do it. Look for it this summer!
Written by Frances. To learn more about New Orleans DSA, follow them on Twitter and visit their website.