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A Virtual Map of Real People with Real Healthcare Stories

(You can zoom in and out as well as pan across the map. Click on pics to enlarge)

View Stories from the Walk in a larger map

• For a larger Google map, click here.
  
• For the more interactive map on Flickr, clickable to individual pictures and stories, click here.
  

Experience the Walk Tweet-by-Tweet

This is the consolidated Twitterfeed from the Walk (Hyperlinked, downloadable & chronological)
(Use the button in the upper right-hand corner to toggle to full-screen mode)

Flickr map of the Walk - the journey, the people & the stories

See: http://www.flickr.com/photos/41448703@N02/map/

This is a work in progress. A more complete and embedded version will be available soon.

Flickr only shows the last 20 pictures uploaded. Scroll the picture bar at the bottom of the screen to pick up more locations on map. Click on a picture (videos also included) to see more details.

For collections of picture (by Week of the Walk, by Day, by State, People/Scenery, Event, etc.) go to the Flickr Photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/41448703@N02/collections/.

Again: this is still a work in progress - pictures are being uploaded, geographic locations placed (estimated in the case of pictures taken with a non-GPS enabled Treo), descriptions & stories being added.

Note that stories submitted to the Facebook group are also being placed on the Flickr Photostream map. We hope to populate this as the Facebook group already has more than 1,700 members as of August 15th.

"Share Your Story" event at Bar Celona in Chicago, Thursday 8-20

Chicago "Share Your Story" event 8-20

Write to the White House!

Feel free to copy & paste (and edit as you like) the following to send to the White House using the link http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/.

Dear President Obama,

I believe true healthcare reform is of critical importance to the nation. Healthcare for all is a matter of human rights, human dignity, and economic security.

Earlier this summer, my friend, Dr. Ogan Gurel, walked from Chicago to Washington, DC in support of healthcare reform. Trekking largely along the Lincoln Highway route in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, and then heading down through Maryland to Washington DC, he gathered real stories from real people. These have been published on the blog for the Walk (http://walk4healthcare.org/) and you may also find them on Scribd at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/19228734/Stories-from-the-Walk-Compact-Edition.

I think you will agree that that the “Voice of the People” must prevail in this healthcare reform debate and that it is important for your office to acknowledge the Walk, not only as a remarkable statement of support for healthcare reform (no lobbyists have been seen initiating such a formidable accomplishment), but specifically because these stories paint a picture, as Dr. Gurel calls it, of a “national catastrophe,” that deserves to be heard much more forcefully than the plaintive pleas of lobbyists intent upon preserving their piece of the healthcare money pot. The voice of the people must be at the forefront of this debate.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

XXXXX

or call/fax:

Tel: 202-456-1414
Fax: 202-456-2461


Thank you!

The Voice of the People

The Walk (Chicago to DC) is done but the Journey has just begun. What is most important in this healthcare reform debate, indeed what holds the key to our democracy, is the voice of the people. The Walk, in addition to making a statement about the urgent need for healthcare provided a unique opportunity to gather real stories from real people along the way. I met with hundreds of people: with insurance, without insurance, Democrats, Republications, liberals, conservatives, indigent, middle-class, wealthy—the full spectrum of Americans along a route that took me through six 'Swing' states.

The stories are interspersed in this blog but for easier access they have also been placed in the 'sidebar' to the right. These include written dispatches as well as videos which can also be found on the Walk's YouTube channel. I continue to upload these stories so visit here often for updates.

I am deeply obliged to those who have shared with me their heartrending stores, otherwise private. They opened up to me out of both a desire that these stories would be heard and out of a frustration that among the raging cacophany of corporate interests they, their voices, were not being heard. Out of this obligation, privilege really, I encourage you to read/view these stories and share them with your friends and, most importantly, with your lawmakers, local and national.

The voice of the people must be heard.