Nashville's Southside Community Church was honored to be the site of Tony Award winning performer, Sarah Jones, "A Right to Care" health-themed show. The daughter of two physicians, Sarah Jones told a Nashville audience of about 170 persons that her multi-ethnic background coupled with her education at the United Nations School, inspired her myriad of characters from her current production. Commissioned by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Ms. Jones varied characters touched upon the many stories that make up our nation's health care crisis and dictate the need for health reform now. Ms. Jones told audience members that she hopes that her characters inspire discussion and anger-- this debate she mused brings the issues to hand that our legislators must address.

Sponsored by the Congressional Asian Pacific Caucus; Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus and presented by the Partnership for Quality Care and the SEIU, Tennesseans were treated to a free performance from a world-renowned progressive performer. Change that Works Tennessee worked for weeks, bringing together a special audience at the Nashville church-- a standing room only audience from all over the state. Team members from Tennessee were especially vested in the fight for health care reform, sighting racial disparity and affordability as issues they want addressed.

Check out Sarah Jones' SEIU Change that Works "Right to Care" tour as she takes her White House and now Nashville performance to Minneapolis next.

President Obama in his health care reform address to the American Medical Association in Chicago, mentioned Becky and Chris Link, two small business owners and Change that Works Tennessee activists:

"Small business owners like Chris and Becky Link in Nashville are also struggling. They've always wanted to do right by the workers at their family-run marketing firm, but have recently had to do the unthinkable and lay off a number of employees - layoffs that could have been deferred, they say, if health care costs weren't so high. Across the country, over one third of small businesses have reduced benefits in recent years and one third have dropped their workers' coverage altogether since the early 90's."

Across the state, family businesses like the Links are being forced to lay off workers to offset the rising cost of health care. Becky and Chris Link support a public option and want a health care insurance safety net for their laid off workers and other persons without affordable coverage for their families.

Take the small business pledge and join concerned Tennessee small business owners to support the President's push for health care for all.

Watch the President's full speech here:

After holding its Health Care Organizing Kickoff this weekend with thousands of house parties across the country, Organizing for America unveiled its "Health Care Action Center" today.

Check it out: http://my.barackobama.com/HealthCare

Organizing for America kickoff event recaps: SEIU's Change that Works campaign joined with OFA and thousands of volunteers in hosting health care organizing kickoffs in their communities. SEIU bloggers Jamiah Adams and Rafael Noboa Rivera have scenes from kickoff meetings held this weekend in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Denver.

Tennessee Change that Works campaign joined together with President Obama's Organizing for America and Tennesseans from around the state to hold house meetings to discuss what we want health care reform to look like. Meeting in libraries, homes, community centers and coffee shops, Tennesseans from Nashville, Jackson, Hermitage, Hendersonville, Gallatin and Murfreesboro shared their stories about the broken health care system.

Congressman Jim Cooper attended the Organizing for America house meeting at the Tennessee Democratic Party Headquarters in Nashville-- and one of our Change that Works field organizers captured his support of the public option.

In the upcoming weeks, stay tuned to the Tennessee Change that Works website for exciting events in support of health care reform, including the OFA day of action on June 27.