Each Friday, through the remaining weeks of Lent, people of faith -- in coordinated actions with Occupy Chattanooga-- will gather in what are being called "Compassionate Fridays" to ensure that our friends, family members and neighbors who have been denied healthcare are not forgotten. Compassionate Fridays will include pray-ins, marches and more. This Friday, March 20, will be the Compassionate Friday and will meet at noon at Miller Park before proceeding to Sen. Todd Gardenhire's business office at Morgan Stanley on Broad Street about 12:15 pm. Compassionate Fridays will also be held on March 27 and April 4, beginning at noon. Planning meetings for Compassionate Fridays are at 7 pm on Tuesday evenings at the Mercy Junction Justice and Peace Center, 1918 Union Ave., Chattanooga TN 37404. Sen. Todd Gardenhire, who represents Hamilton and Bradley counties in the state legislature, is one of seven state senators, six of whom receive state-subsidized health insurance, to deny health care coverage to 280,000 poor and working Tennesseans by voting against Insure TN. Statewide, 47 percent of all uninsured Tennesseans, ages 18 to 64, have incomes below 138 percent of the federal poverty level, which would make them eligible for Medicaid under the new law. Expanding Medicaid, which is called TennCare in Tennessee, could extend health coverage to over 280,000 Tennesseans In Bradley County, 6,875 uninsured adults have an income of less than 138% of the poverty level, which is 49% percent of total uninsured adults. In Hamilton County, 18,873 uninsured adults have an income of less than 138% of the poverty level, which is 45% percent of total uninsured adults. SOURCE: http://www.tnjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/TN-Uninsured-by-County-Fact-Sheet-FINAL.pdf https://www.facebook.com/events/1633590506860633/