Task force representatives appointed

Elgin City Council named the elected official and community leader appointed to the new Bastrop County Public Health Task Force.

Councilmember YaLecia Love and Beth Rolingson were selected for the organization, focused on countywide disease prevention, public health protection and the centralization of a communal health voice.

“Our community as a whole suffers when we do not have a healthy populace,” said Rolingson.

While Love volunteered herself during the team’s presentation, Jan. 9, city leaders took some time to find and decide on a residential representative with an understanding of wellbeing.

Rolingson was the director of Advocacy Outreach for 31 years, a local nonprofit social services organization providing anti-poverty amenities for the county.

Advocacy Outreach was founded in 1992 and currently operates a free thrift store in downtown Elgin, as well as a day resource center for people who are homeless or lack adequate housing.

Through many years of providing advocacy to individuals attempting to address their health problems, Rolingson brings an awareness and perspective to the task force that includes the needs of the working class and disenfranchised members of the community.

Rolingson expects the task force to address the needs of the uninsured, particularly those living in poverty and the homeless.

“I hope we can establish a robust indigent health care fund for Elgin,” added the volunteer. “Because Texas will not accept federal funds, already paid by Texans through their income taxes, we must find an additional way to fund a health care safety network for the poor.”

Wage earners or self-employed business owners earning less than around $13,000 a year do not qualify for the Affordable Care Act insurance assistance, according to Rolingson.

“In other states they are covered by federal expanded Medicaid, but not in Texas, so there are many members of our community who lack health insurance. I hope our task force will explore solutions to this dilemma,” she said.

Rolingson also aims to address the prenatal care and labor services that are missing from Bastrop County.