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Sarah Lippett from the Royal College of Art offers an entertaining glimpse into the lives of neighbors in a high rise apartment.
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Nonprofit wipes out millions of dollars in medical debt for 97,000 people in Connecticut
A weight has been lifted.
Medical debt is one of the biggest drawbacks of the current United States economy. Per a report from the National Library of Medicine, 36% of U.S. households had medical debt in 2024. The report also stated that 21% of U.S. homes had a past-due medical bill, and another 23% were paying a medical bill over time to a provider. The pain is real, but relief has come for 97,000 people in Connecticut who just had their medical debt erased.
In June 2026, letters were sent to residents of Connecticut telling them that some or all of their medical debt had been paid off. This miracle fends off the growing trend of people declaring bankruptcy due to unpaid medical debt.
Now, people who otherwise have to choose between paying off their debt or buying necessities are given some much-needed breathing room. Eliminated medical debt means low-income families do not have to fear seeking medical care when it is most needed.
“You have so much money in your pot, so to speak, and you have to divide it amongst different obligations and expenses, and for some, whose out-of-pocket costs for healthcare are so huge, they have to make very difficult decisions,” said Dr. Traci Marquis-Eydman told NBC Connecticut. “We see this in rural America, rural Connecticut, that patients are making those decisions all the time.”
Connecticut’s government was able to provide this financial relief through Undue Medical Debt, a national nonprofit funded through donors and state funds. Using that money and $6.5 million in state funding they obtained for COVID-19 relief, Undue Medical Debt can purchase past-due medical debt.
How does Undue Medical Debt work?
Because they purchase debt in large batches, Undue Medical Debt can purchase the debt at a deep discount. Their website claims that every dollar donated purchases $100 worth of debt. If this sounds like how collection agencies make their money purchasing debt from hospitals, that’s because it is. The difference is that Undue Medical Debt isn’t trying to profit collecting from folks who cannot pay.
Connecticut isn’t the first state to use Undue Medical Debt to help their citizens. In 2025, over $17 million in medical debt was purchased and wiped clean in Arizona through Undue Medical Debt and the AZ Blue Foundation.
There are some caveats. In order to qualify, medical debt must match 5% or more of your annual income. If not that, then your income must be four times lower than the federal poverty level. Usually, people don’t apply for Undue Medical Debt relief. They will receive a letter in the mail indicating that their debt, whole or in part, has been taken care of.
Does paying off others’ medical debt actually help them?
There are arguments and studies that contradict the idea that this type of medical debt relief is effective. Critics believe that, even though medical debt is paid off, it doesn’t relieve overall financial stress of those in need. There is also the issue of paying off current medical debt and not additional debt that could be accrued. If a person has another medical emergency or is going through ongoing care, the problem can return.
More time, experimentation, legislation, and study needs to be made to see what path is the most ideal for this problem. However, for 97,000 folks in Connecticut, there is one less item to worry about.
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Actor shares with Harrison Ford that he was her late dad’s favorite actor. His reply was perfect.
“Your dad’s here, he sees you, and he’s proud of you.”
Mimi Fletcher has the prototypical origin of a successful working actor: moving out from the Midwest to Los Angeles to become a star. She got her start doing background gigs and now is doing recurring guest roles on television. However, one acting gig she’ll treasure forever was when she got to work with Harrison Ford.
Ford is a part of the main cast of Shrinking, an Apple+ show starring him and Jason Segel. The show is about a therapist (Segel) who, motivated by grief, takes a more proactive and candid approach with his patients. Ford plays Paul, a senior therapist at the practice who suffers from Parkinson’s disease.
When Fletcher met Ford
In 2023, Fletcher got to do scenes with Ford and Segel. It would be one of the biggest highlights of her career so far. However, recently on Threads, Fletcher shared that it was also a highlight of her life that she’ll never forget.
Fletcher shared that her father was a big fan of Harrison Ford. Her dad was also a big fan of his daughter and very encouraging of her acting dream. She shared how her father supported and believed in her, even when she made decisions that her dad wouldn’t approve of. Her dad passed away in 2005 before Fletcher truly “made it” as a Hollywood actor. She wishes she was able to make him proud.
Before going on set, Fletcher was waiting in the holding room with both Harrison Ford and Jason Segel. As they were all waiting, Fletcher thought of her father. She approached Ford and said:
“You know, Harrison, my Dad was a big fan of yours. I remember him taking me to see Witness when I was a little girl. I did some things that I know disappointed him, but he still supported me. He never got to see me do any professional acting, but I’d like to think that today, he’d be proud of me.”
Harrison Ford’s perfect response
Fletcher tried to keep it professional, but the tears she was holding back spilled out. Immediately, Ford rushed to give her a hug.
“He wrapped me in his arms, and held me as I cried. He then kissed my forehead and said, ‘Your dad’s here, he sees you, and he’s proud of you.’”
In sharing the story, Fletcher expressed her gratitude to Ford and everyone on Shrinking. Fletcher felt compelled to tell this story since her father passed away over twenty years ago this June. And since June is also when we celebrate Father’s Day, he’s been on her mind. While Fletcher still mourns her loss, she treasures this happy memory.
Fletcher was able to get comfort from a person her father respected even when Ford didn’t have to do anything more than say, “Thanks for sharing.”
“A little bit of my broken heart was healed that day, through the goodness of Harrison Ford…” she wrote. “I miss and love you, Dad.”
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4 reasons why coffee grounds are a money-saving cleaning supply
A fresh pot leaves a fresh overall house cleaner.
Due to the rising price of gas and other issues, more people are looking for various hacks to make the most out of their purchases and cut down costs. As a result, more people are brewing coffee at home rather than grabbing a latte to-go from Starbucks. Now, making coffee at home doesn’t just save money on caffeine fixes; it can also save money on dishwashing soap, facial scrubs, pest control, and many other household needs.
Coffee grounds are the secret cleaning supply you brew each morning. It sounds odd, but it’s true, effective, and reduces expenses. Whether you use a French press or a can of Folgers, coffee grounds could do the job that several other cleaning or home products can.
Here are five reasons you keep your coffee grounds around:
1. They help scrub cookware (and yourself) better
You’ve likely seen ads for dish soap that specialize in cutting through grease or burned on stains on pots and pans. It turns out dried coffee grounds can be just as, if not more, effective when paired with cheap dish soap.
After used coffee grounds are dried up (if you’re impatient, you can use your oven to bake them dry), they become incredibly fine and coarse. Paired up with basic dish soap, the coarse grounds gently scrape off grease, grime, and tough-to-scrub burn stains. This can apply to nearly any metal or porcelain cookware. Since coffee grounds are so refined, they can do heavy-duty cleaning without damage. If a food stain is incredibly stubborn, adding salt to your coffee grounds with the dish soap can act as a safer sandpaper for those stains.
While great for dishes, coffee grounds can do the same thing with stains and gunk clinging to grills, sinks, tubs, kitchen floors, and other surfaces.
Coffee grounds aren’t just safe for scrubbing dishes; they’re also safe for scrubbing you. If you’ve been handling sticky or greasy items while cleaning the kitchen, coffee grounds can reduce the amount of hand soap needed to wash it off.
Leftover coffee grounds can also be DIY’d into an effective exfoliant for your face. In fact, there could be health benefits, too. A 2013 study found that caffeic acid in coffee facial scrubs may increase collagen production to reduce wrinkles and signs of aging. Like any exfoliant, it sloughs off extra oils and dead skin cells. The difference is in the cost: used coffee grounds do the trick just as well (if not better) than expensive store-bought scrubs.
2. Coffee grounds deodorize everything, everywhere
While many people can enjoy the scent of coffee, the grounds can eliminate other scents in your home. This doesn’t mean that you’re covering up bad smells with coffee smells. Far from it. Coffee contains nitrogen which neutralizes odors much more effectively than sprays and air fresheners.
The good thing is that coffee grounds can help improve or remove smells in almost any part of the home. Place a small bowl of coffee grounds in the refrigerator and freezer to remove food smells. Put a small cup of grounds in your closet to reduce odor from the laundry hamper. Pour some dry grounds in some old socks and put them in your shoes to deodorize them overnight.
Here’s the other benefit: While humans tend to like the scent of coffee, pests don’t.
3. Most bugs hate coffee
No one wants a bug infestation of any kind in their home, and one of the best nontoxic ways of keeping them out is with coffee. No sprays, no traps, and no need for an additional purchase. Just coffee grounds.
The scent of coffee is intense to many insects’ heightened sense of smell, so they tend to shy away from its source. Affected insects include ants, wasps, bees, slugs, and fleas among others.
In moderation, used coffee grounds can help deter outdoor pests in your garden while also acting as fertilizer for some plants. If you enjoy the outdoors, burning dry coffee grounds like incense can also keep mosquitoes away.
4. They can buff out scratched wooden furniture
Before you spend money on wood filler, scratch repair kits, or the like to fix surface scratches on dark wooden furniture, you may want to try coffee grounds instead. Spread a paste made from dried grounds and water onto the scratches. Let it “soak” for a few minutes and then wipe the coffee ground paste away. It may take a few tries, but many light scratches look better. Some outright disappear after absorbing the coffee and its color into the surface of the wood.
Coffee grounds are a waste product for sure, but they’re a waste product that could save money in the long term—and hat shouldn’t go to waste!
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