In addition to signing this petition, please e-mail or call the county chair and commissioner for your district below! A link will open for you to edit the message. Please add your name / zip code to the bottom of the email otherwise it will appear generic.

Email County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson
Or call 503-988-3308

District 1 - Commissioner Meghan Moyer

District 2 - Shannon Singleton
Or call 503-988-5219

District 3 - Julia Brim-Edwards
Or call 503-988-5217

District 4 - Vince Jones-Dixon

For numerous residents of Multnomah County, the STD Clinic serves as an indispensable anchor of trust and care. Providing sliding scale, capped cost care, the clinic has been the first and foremost recourse for people within our community. However, this crucial hub of service is now on the brink of losing funding in this year's budget process. Without its support, residents will face the undesirable choice of seeking out higher cost emergency or urgent care, causing a reduction in the overall quality of service. 

Our community needs this clinic now more than ever, especially when our societal institutions are under the hostile scrutiny of our federal government. The clinic is far more than just a provider of medical services – it is a testament to our communal belief in equitable healthcare access. 

It's no secret that STDs represent a significant public health challenge. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the United States around 20 million new STD cases are reported each year, costing the healthcare system nearly $16 billion in direct medical costs (CDC, 2019). STD Clinics like Multnomah County's help to counteract this burden, providing early detection and affordable treatment options to those in need.

It is our shared responsibility to ensure the viability of this clinic. Let's come together as a community, unified in our conviction, to prevent the defunding of the Multnomah County's STD Clinic. Please sign this petition and help us send a compelling message to the authorities and decision-makers involved. Your signature can make a monumental difference.

Script for emailing / calling (feel free to edit!)

Hi [COMMISSIONER / CHAIR],

I am writing to implore you to continue funding for the Multnomah County STD Clinic and stop its closure. So many Portlandians, both insured and uninsured, rely on the STD clinic for affordable, sliding-scale testing and treatment. We are currently living through a perilous political climate which continues to erode civil rights and further threatens facilities which provide unbiased access to ensure sexual health. In these times, cities such as Portland need to take a stand more than ever to help prevent our population from succumbing to treatable endemic disease. Failing to fund our clinic will result in failing the people our commissioners have been elected and pledged to serve. Without the STD clinic, these services will be accessed through emergency and urgent care clinics. This in turn will needlessly increase the cost of emergency care for all, while decreasing the quality of service in these facilities.

Please reconsider the latest budget proposal, the potential community impact, and work to find alternative ways to fund our critical services. We should not have to sacrifice health, especially in these times when our rights are under attack.

Respectfully,

[INSERT YOUR NAME HERE]
[ZIP CODE, DISTRICT #]