Who?

My name is Finn Gilbert and I am a photographer based in Baltimore Maryland. I am collecting stories and images of people who have been lacking care in the healthcare system. These stories are personal and stretch beyond the bounds of what some may know about healthcare disparities. What does this mean?

When someone hears the term healthcare disparity, they might assume it only affects people of color, lower-income individuals/families, or people in the LGBTQ+ community. This however is not true. It affects everyone. It affects me and it affects you. It affects family or friends whom we hold dear in our hearts.

Let me share a story about someone close to me and who helped push me to start this journey:

My friend was diagnosed with an immunocompromised disease. He had good insurance, Blue Cross Blue Shield. The life saving drug he was recommended to take was not covered by his insurance. Instead, it would be $3,000 out of pocket. He sat in his car in 90 degree weather while saying to himself; “What am I going to do?” My friend continued by telling me they had two paths they could take. They told me, “one was to give up and eventually die without their medication” or to “fight, get informed of programs to help them and others,” so people don’t have to go through the same thing as my friend.

The stories and images that I am collecting is my way to help the community fight for the basic right of healthcare. Though the people in the stories all come from different backgrounds, they share one thing in common. They have been affected by the careless health system. And they all ask one important question: “What are YOU going to do?”