As health care costs skyrocket, Americans are continuing to suffer physically, mentally, and financially.

According to Change.gov, President-elect Barack Obama's website, large medical bills have contributed to half of bankruptcies and foreclosures.

That is why a local group organized by Mennonite Central Committee and Mennonite Mutual Aid is getting a head start at helping Obama and his team tackle the issue.

On Monday night, a Holiday Health Care house party was held at College Mennonite Church in Goshen.

This party and others like it were encouraged by Tom Daschle, the future Health and Human Services director appointed by Obama.

Mennonite Mutual Aid grew out of a long tradition of church communities sharing resources with each other by offering loans, mutual aid, and stewardship programs.

"…people losing coverage, especially in our area now that it's job-based, and as people lose their jobs, you have more strain on access," explained Evan Bontrager. "Here we're trying to get ideas. People have different ideas and they want to share them with the government for future initiatives. And there's also stories -- they want us to uplink stories to the website as well, and hopefully they'll shape public discourse in the future."

President-elect Barack Obama's website can be accessed at http://change.gov.