‘It’s powerful medicine to know there are great people out there in the world’
Aid recipient: Amy Arpan is an actor and circus choreographer who appeared as Mrs. Soames in Miners Alley Playhouse’s production of “Our Town.” She is also the owner and principal performer at Amy Arpan’s Illusions And Confusions. She is the sister of area actor, director and choreographer Piper Arpan.
Amy Arpan and Lisa DeCaro in Miners Alley Playhouse’s 2017 ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses.’ Photo by Matthew Gale.
Her medical story: Amy went to Denver Health with stomach pains and was rushed in for emergency surgery. Despite having insurance, Amy was led to believe that her patient responsibility for the surgery would eventually come to a whopping $30,000. But over the next two months, that bill never came due. Instead, Amy and her husband, Chris Morrison, took on most of expenses associated with her surgery themselves, including a $500 E.R. bill. The largest expense at first was a bill for $2,846 to cover the services of four individual specialists who participated in her surgery. The DAF paid that bill off and, as time passed, the couple began to believe that maybe that was the end of it. It wasn’t. On June 5, the other shoe dropped. Amy received an actual, post-insurance bill for an additional $33,605. She was shell-shocked.
How we have helped: First, The Denver Actors Fund board paid the full amount of Amy’s initial hospital bill, or $2,846. When the more recent bill arrived, the hospital set her up on a payment plan that essentially called for her to pay $332 a month for many years to come. Amy and her husband, who made just less than $24,000 the year before, were nearly resigned to their fate. We offered our free legal counsel, as well as a consultation with new DAF Board Member Dr. Kelli Lewis, who completed her Emergency Medicine residency at the very same Denver Health. We then encouraged Amy and her sister, Piper Arpan, to challenge the bill with both Denver Health and her insurance company. And they did. Long story short: It was discovered that there had been an accounting error, and Amy’s bill was reduced from $33,605 to “just” $11,970. The Denver Actors Fund Board subsequently authorized an additional $7,000 gift to Arpan and her husband, bringing her deficit down to just under $5,000. This second gift, at the time, equaled the largest single payout in Denver Actors Fund history.
More to the story: Whenever The DAF cannot fully wipe out a qualified recipient’s full medical obligation, we consider theirs to be open cases that we review periodically. At the end of 2019, we checked in with Amy and Chris to see how they were doing. They were still 32 months away from paying off the remaining balance. Because we consider every qualifying case as open and ongoing until the bill is fully wiped out, the Board voted unanimously to gift the couple with an additional $2,500, to be applied against the remaining balance. By May 2021, the couple had worked the remaining balance down to $1,029.16. And the board, in consideration of our current financial position, voted to pay off the remainder of the balance so the couple would be relieved of the burden and future wasted interest charges. That brings The Denver Actors Fund’s overall support for the couple, icluding targeted donations from the community, to $13,900.16 to date.
Amy Arpan on the couch she couldn’t leave for a month as she recovered.
Amy’s reaction: “As a performer, I’ve always loved long contracts – ongoing medical bills, not so much. You try not to put a price on your life, your health, your passion; but not having good insurance as a performer puts real life limitations on what you can actually pay for. It’s a crushing weight. Since then, The Denver Actors Fund and the wonderful people who donate to it have helped us time and time again. This is the picture I took today when I got the news that now have Zero payments owed. It was taken on the couch I couldn’t get up from for a month after that surgery. Zero was still almost a year of payments away. Zero happened for us and for so many other artists because so many of you choose to care. Actors, and what they contribute to your life, do not count ‘zero’ for you. Thank you for giving back to all of us. Thank you for the best curtain call and most appreciated ‘Zero’ I have ever received. A “scar” was born, but this “star” is so grateful, and ready to go on with the show. Instead of making monthly payments to Denver Health, I for one, will start making a monthly contribution to The Denver Actors Fund. This organization, the people who run it, and the people who support it, are true goodness, kindness, compassion and love. Thank you!”
How you can help us help more people like Amy: If you would like to help us replenish, simply mail checks in any amount made out to The Denver Actors Fund to P.O. Box 11182, Denver, CO 80211. Or use this online donation link.
The Denver Actors Fund has now made more than $800,000 available to Colorado artists in medical need.
Note: At Denver Actors Fund, anonymity of aid recipients is presumed and fully protected, unless and until the recipient chooses to have his or her story told.
THE FULL TEXT OF AMY ARPAN AND CHRIS MORRISON’S INITIAL MESSAGE TO DENVER ACTORS FUND SUPPORTERS:
Amy Arpan and Chris Morrison’s ER selfie.
“I have three main memories of the night my husband drove me to the E.R. at 3 a.m. The first is of the pain – like nothing I’d ever felt before. It was all-consuming, and I just needed it to stop. The second is of the overwhelming concern in my husband’s eyes as he stayed by my side to comfort me. The third is of me telling the E.R. doctor: “I don’t think our insurance is very good, so if something isn’t necessary, please don’t do it.” These are memories I hope none of you ever have to have. They are terrifying. They are embarrassing.
On Day 2 of recovery after emergency surgery, we were visited by a financial adviser in our hospital room. She wanted to make us aware that the amount we would owe would come to around $30,000. It felt like someone had punched us. It felt like getting better was pointless. Ten weeks after we got home, we got our first bill. It was close to $3,000. For all we knew, there might be more on the way.
Then we contacted The Denver Actors Fund, and they let us know they would pay off that first bill in full. “In full?” I thought I’d misheard. We were stunned. That call from The Denver Actors Fund was as welcome and as emotionally uplifting as the call I got from the hospital telling me the mass they had removed was benign.
We don’t have enough meaningful words to thank The Denver Actors Fund – I think even Shakespeare would have a rough go at it. My husband and I feel like we can breathe again. I feel like fighting to get better is worth it again. It’s powerful medicine to know that there ARE great people out there in the world.
Thank you, Denver Actors Fund, for looking out for those of us who choose to make our own way in the world of performing. To those of you who donate to it and to those of you who run it: Thank you for your generosity. Thank you for my health. Chris and I have never been more grateful.”
Amy Arpan on stilts at the auto fair for her company, ‘Illusions and Confusions.’
HOW YOU CAN HELP US REPLENISH:
To DONATE to the Denver Actors Fund, please CLICK HERE (with our humble thanks)
ABOUT THE DENVER ACTORS FUND:
The Denver Actors Fund is a modest source of immediate, situational relief when members of the local theater community find themselves in medical need. In addition to $800,000 in financial relief, a team of more than 60 Denver Actors Fund volunteers has offered good neighborly assistance to dozens of beneficiaries including meal prep and delivery, child care, transportation, errands, construction, pet-sitting and more. For more information, visit DenverActorsFund.Org.
When you shop on Amazon, there is a simple and automatic way for you to support The Denver Actors Fund, at no cost to you. Simply click on the “Get Started” button to the left. Once you sign up with The Denver Actors Fund as your preferred charity, Amazon will donate 0.5 percent the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases. When you shop AmazonSmile instead of the regular Amazon, it’s still Amazon. You will find the exact same prices, selection and shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a potion of your proceeds to The Denver Actors Fund. The gift to us is not added to your bill. It comes from Amazon. Questions? Here’s more info.
COME TO (OR STREAM!) THE EVENTS THAT SUPPORT US:
Check out who performed in this year’s virtual ‘CAST 2020!’
AVAILABLE NOW: This year “Miscast,” the major annual fundraiser for The Denver Actors Fund, pivoted to “CAST 2020,” a professionally produced on-demand video concert featuring Colorado theatre artists performing in roles they WERE cast to play before the coronavirus shut down their shows. “CAST 2020” includes nearly a dozen showstopping songs by an all-star lineup of Colorado theatre performers:
Rebecca Myers, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center’s ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’
Lisa Kay Carter and Seth Dhonou, Arvada Center’s ‘Something Rotten’
Kalyn Heffernan of Wheelchair Sports Camp with Michelle Rocqet, Phamaly Theatre Company’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’
Scott Hurst, Candlelight Dinner Playhouse’s ‘Curtains’
Mary Louise Lee, Vintage Theatre’s ‘Gypsy’
McKayla Marso, BDT Stage’s ‘The Sound of Music’
Cal Meakins, Forge Light Theatreworks’ ‘Bare: The Musical’
Keith Hershman and Jessie Oblazny, Magic Moments’ ‘Take the High Road’
Mercedes Perez, Lake Dillon Theatre’s ‘Man of La Mancha’
Jenna Moll Reyes, Aurora Fox’s ‘Freaky Friday’
Camryn Torres, Miners Alley Playhouse’s ‘Once on This Island’
For your donation of at least $20, you will be sent a link to the video within 24 hours. You can then watch the concert at your leisure. Reserve your link today
‘Miscast’ is the major annual fundraiser for The Denver Actors Fund. It produced each year by Robert Michael Sanders and Kenny Moten, with 100 percent of all proceeds going to The DAF. ‘CAST 2020’ was recorded primarily at Focus Event Studios in north Denver and edited by Ray Bailey TV. We are grateful to all of them for making this important event possible, and to you for watching.
ONGOING: “Waiting for Obama,” the audio version of DAF Founder John Moore’s play that was an official selection at the 2016 New York International Fringe Festival, has been released as way of raising funds for The Denver Actors Fund. A Colorado Springs family is convinced that Barack Obama is coming for their guns in the final weeks of his presidency – and they’re right. Featuring Laurence Curry, Drew Horwitz, Chris Kendall, Leslie O’Carroll, Jenna Moll Reyes, Jessica Robblee, Luke Sorge and Mare Trevathan. It was recorded by the staff of Parker Arts at the PACE Center as an in-kind donation to The Denver Actors Fund. Listen for FREE on all major podcasting platforms including Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Podbean. Just by listening, you will be raising revenue for The DAF! Or, WATCH the recording as a pay-per-view video for $9.95 on Broadway on Demand. ‘Waiting for Obama’ was recorded by the staff of Parker Arts at the PACE Center and edited by Ray Bailey TV as in-kind donations to The Denver Actors Fund. The actors also donated their services.
ONGOING: “Quarantine Week by Weak” is a new photographic coffee-table book by Susannah McLeod and her wife, Chloe McLeod, who chronicled their home life during the COVID19 shutdown with a lighthearteded photo series documenting their lives during quarantine. They produced more than 35 sets of humorous photos comparing the beginning of quarantine to later in the “stay-at-home” period. Susannah pulled out her camera and we started to play,” said Chloe McLeod. As popularity for the series grew on Instagram and after a feature in Westword, the couple started exploring options to publish the series as a book to benefit The Denver Actors Fund. To order, visit mcleod9creative.com. This project is generously sponsored by The Albritton Family; Natalie Bowen and Jim Corbett; Dave Dyer; Julie Dyer; and Denise Gentilini and Lynette Prisner. Additional support provided by Angie Flachman and Sandy Birkey at The Publishing House and Sandra Lee Stuart.
For young married couple Lindsey and Adam Kinney, the baby came early – and the bills came often. The Denver Actors Fund paid off more than $6,000 in medical debt.
The Denver Actors Fund has launch of a major new FREE medical service for qualified Colorado theatre artists: We are partnering with Hippo Health to provide access to emergency medical evaluations via video conferencing with a Board-certified physician. Click to read more about this wonderful, innovative new partnership that is further improving the lives of artists!
ONGOING: “Waiting for Obama,” the audio version of DAF Founder John Moore’s play that was an official selection at the 2016 New York International Fringe Festival, has been released as way of raising funds for The Denver Actors Fund. A Colorado Springs family is convinced that Barack Obama is coming for their guns in the final weeks of his presidency – and they’re right. Featuring Laurence Curry, Drew Horwitz, Chris Kendall, Leslie O’Carroll, Jenna Moll Reyes, Jessica Robblee, Luke Sorge and Mare Trevathan. It was recorded by the staff of Parker Arts at the PACE Center as an in-kind donation to The Denver Actors Fund. Listen for FREE on all major podcasting platforms including Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Podbean. Just by listening, you will be raising revenue for The DAF! Or, WATCH the recording as a pay-per-view video for $9.95 on Broadway on Demand. ‘Waiting for Obama’ was recorded by the staff of Parker Arts at the PACE Center and edited by Ray Bailey TV as in-kind donations to The Denver Actors Fund. The actors also donated their services.
ONGOING: “Quarantine Week by Weak” is a new photographic coffee-table book by Susannah McLeod and her wife, Chloe McLeod, who chronicled their home life during the COVID19 shutdown with a lighthearteded photo series documenting their lives during quarantine. They produced more than 35 sets of humorous photos comparing the beginning of quarantine to later in the “stay-at-home” period. Susannah pulled out her camera and we started to play,” said Chloe McLeod. As popularity for the series grew on Instagram and after a feature in Westword, the couple started exploring options to publish the series as a book to benefit The Denver Actors Fund. To order, visit mcleod9creative.com. This project is generously sponsored by The Albritton Family; Natalie Bowen and Jim Corbett; Dave Dyer; Julie Dyer; and Denise Gentilini and Lynette Prisner. Additional support provided by Angie Flachman and Sandy Birkey at The Publishing House and Sandra Lee Stuart.
