In Austin, where medical bills can linger long after the hospital stay, high school senior Eli Yorio has helped make nearly $4.8 million of that debt vanish for thousands of Travis County residents. His student-run campaign, called 26 for 26, started as a freshman project at St. Stephen’s Episcopal and grew into a full-on fundraising push that mixes small donors, events and grant support to buy bundled medical accounts and cancel them. The effort has already brought relief to hundreds of families staring down old, stubborn bills.
As reported by KXAN, Yorio's 26 for 26 campaign, working with the nonprofit Undue Medical Debt, has erased about $4.75 million in outstanding medical debt for 3,835 people across Travis County. According to KXAN, the effort has pulled in more than $260,000 through community outreach, charity golf tournaments and a grant, and Yorio first launched 26 for 26 in 2022 while he was a freshman at St. Stephen’s Episcopal. The station also notes a fundraising event scheduled for Tuesday, December 30 at Cobo Bob’s off Rio Grande Street in Austin.
How Donations Multiply
The campaign taps into Undue's purchase-and-forgive model, which turns relatively modest donations into large-scale relief by buying portfolios of delinquent medical accounts for pennies on the dollar. Undue Medical Debt says that, on average, every dollar donated can erase roughly 100 dollars of medical debt, and recipients get word that their balances were bought and forgiven with no tax consequences. That math gives a student-run fundraiser outsized power to help people who meet Undue's eligibility criteria, as detailed by Undue Medical Debt.
From Classroom to City Halls
Yorio told KXAN that he began volunteering as a freshman and has since taken the idea beyond campus, meeting with local leaders and state officials, including representatives from the governor's office and the Austin City Council, to build support. He says the work has shifted from a class project to an advocacy effort focused on partnerships and larger funding streams. Yorio also told KXAN he hopes to hit 5 million dollars in erased debt by graduation and eventually expand the model across Texas and beyond.
Why It Matters Locally
Undue has been briefing city staff and council committees on possible municipal and county partnerships that would buy and abolish medical debt, and Austin's Public Health Committee took up that concept during a June briefing. City meeting materials show officials weighing whether targeted debt relief could improve both financial stability and access to care for residents, mirroring the logic behind student-led efforts like 26 for 26. That blend of grassroots fundraising and government interest puts Austin in line with other places testing debt-abatement programs, as outlined in the City of Austin Public Health Committee materials.
Undue Medical Debt's campaign page for 26 for 26 tracks progress and offers ways supporters can donate, and organizers say contributions stay in Travis County to reach residents most in need. Yorio says the project's next big push is the end-of-year fundraiser and continued outreach as the program eyes scaling in 2026, and local advocates and officials are watching to see whether this student-driven approach can help fuel a broader response to medical debt in Texas.
