The rally aims to bring thousands of people to Hartford from around the state to urge lawmakers to pass a universal health care bill in the final weeks of the legislative session.

Mayor John DeStefano and the Board of Aldermen are in favor of health care reform that would improve access to care for the state’s 400,000 uninsured and hundreds of thousands more underinsured residents.

East Rock Alderman Roland Lemar, speaking for the board, said several issues are entwined with lack of insurance coverage — such as chronic diseases like asthma, medical debt, home foreclosures and personal bankruptcy. (He’s pictured at left with fellow board members, President Carl Goldfield, Katrina Jones and newly elected Dixwell Alderman Greg Morehead.)

Morehead described how frustrating and scary it is, especially as a parent, when a family lacks decent coverage.

Paul Wessel, staffer for the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, which is sponsoring the Hartford rally through its HealthCare4Every1 campaign, said several grassroots groups have been working to build the rally, including AFSCME Council 4, Connecticut Parent Power, GAVA (the Grand Avenue Village Association), and Christian Community Action.

Sheneane Ragin, a Dixwell Democratic ward co-chair and a member of Connecticut Parent Power, said, “It’s really important that you tell your friends and your family about health care and this initiative so they can spread the word and many people will come out on May 5 in support of universal health care.” The ubiquitous flyers for the rally are on the wall behind her.

Bill McGlone (pictured) could hardly wait for the speakers to finish before challenging them. He asked why it took DeStefano and other Democrats so long, in his view, to come on board the universal health care train. He said he didn’t expect anything from the Republicans.

Gabriela Campos-Matteson, a field rep with AFSCME Council 4, defended the mayor, who did not attend the event as earlier announced because his mother had just died. “I honestly believe with all my heart,” she said, “that if he and other Democrats had not pushed this during the last election it would not be as big of an issue as it is now.” DeStefano was the first candidate in last year’s gubernatorial campaign to embrace universal health care.

McGlone said later that he’s fed up with both major parties, and he’s working to develop a poor people’s alliance to unite “the poor, the lower middle class and immigrants,” around health care reform and other issues of urgent concern to them.

After the speechifying, organizers fanned out through the neighborhood. Ragin (pictured at top of story) walked briskly through nearby Monterrey Place, her heels clicking on the sidewalk, to deliver flyers to her neighbors about the Hartford rally and the free buses that will take New Haveners there. To sign up for the bus, call 537-0799 or 777-6072.