At 12:00 pm ET on Wednesday, June 24th diverse Hoosier Action leaders from rural and small town communities across Indiana joined together for a virtual press conference watched by nearly 650 people. At the press conference, leaders from five counties shared their stories and called on Governor Holcomb and Attorney General Hill to do everything possible to protect Hoosier healthcare, homes, and lives.

“We are hurting. Our neighbors are hurting,” explained co-chair Kim Thompson, “All of us, white, black, and brown Hoosiers from the small towns to the cities, from the Ohio River to Lake Michigan, are struggling and are more vulnerable than we’ve ever been. We all deserve a safe place to live without losing our healthcare or homes in a global pandemic, and without fear of getting shot at by the police.”

The healthcare of Hoosiers is under urgent threat from the Healthcare Repeal Lawsuit, also known as California v. Texas (formerly Texas v. US), which will be heard in the Supreme Court tomorrow. “If people like me who are in need can’t afford healthcare, the cases will increase,” noted Kim Thompson. If this lawsuit is successful, it would topple the entire health care system and take healthcare away from nearly half a million Hoosiers, including Hoosiers with pre-existing conditions like COVID-19.

Just a few days later, on June 30th, Indiana’s eviction moratorium is set to end. At the time of the press conference, our state had no comprehensive plan to protect the estimated 258,782 Hoosiers who are at risk of eviction and homelessness at the end of the month. For many Hoosiers, including college student Aimee Lee, these two crises are connected: “Because I couldn’t work during COVID and because there’s no assistance for renters not only am I in a more financially precarious situation, I’m also quite behind on my degree. . . as someone who is on my parent’s health insurance and a person with chronic health issues and prescriptions that are needed to improve my quality of life . . . my future and the future of our state seems extremely uncertain” due to the ACA repeal lawsuit.

The final crisis facing Hoosiers is the long-time crisis of unaccountable law enforcement which continues through the unjust killings of black Hoosiers. “A system that swore to serve and protect for the greater good of community has failed me for my whole life and it continues to fail Hoosiers all across the state, and citizens are tired of being heard,” explained Tracy Skaggs, a Hoosier Action leader who has struggled with addiction. “As a result of the Black lives Matter movement, voices are being amplified all across the nation which can make all of our lives better from black and brown Hoosiers to the poor Hoosiers, and this also has the power to become our collective liberation.

In response to these three crises, Hoosier Action is organizing 1,000 emails and phone calls to Governor Holcomb and Attorney General Hill’s office to demand protection, action, and accountability. Hoosier Action also plans to hold elected officials accountable to rural and small town values by holding 50,000 phone conversations with rural and small town Hoosiers leading up to the 2020 election.