martin luther king junior gave his famous i have a dream speech 40 years ago, emma jean was in the crowdistening. she followed him from georgia and never came back. >> have you always run sheltered? >> that's all i haveve. r donel dowai s i was a turning point for stewart. a single mom with two boys by the time she turned 18. >> there's women and their babies who come here and knock on my door all night long, emma jean, i need help. well, that's what i am here for. >> reporter: after running a mission that received presidential recognition it is stewart who is facing a life- changing event. >> i have cancer of the gums. >> reporter: at the same time she got the cancer diagnosis she shelter she used to run on p street has burned down. she has been running it out of three tiny rooms in a row house in northeast. donations aren't coming in like they used to. >> we just don't have the money. it is too expensive now. >> reporter: although the pain of gum cancer makes getting through every day pealrs onrson challenge, stewart is more concerned where the eight women and three babies living here

host: emma jean, we need to let you go at that point and best wishes for your own health care situationguest: she raised a number of interesting points. first of all, aarp would not be working toward the passage of health reform the did anything to take away your medicare benefits. those are not on the table. it is not part of the discussion. what is is that medicare which is symptomatic of broader problems in the system is not on stable financial footing. it is going broke. we need to change the way medicare operates just as we need to change the way our overall health care system operates. we need to move away from a volumetric type of system and move towards a performance-based system that rewards doctors and hospitals for outcomes. it sounds a huge. there are minor steps over time that will have to reorient the system and make a stronger in the future. to make sure that your children and grandchildren have a medicare program they can also depend upon. host: the next call comes from illinois on the independent line. this is rosie. caller: i wanted to ask what the aarp's stance is on

host: emma jean, we need to let you go at that point and best wishes for your own health care situation. guest: she raised a number of interesting points. first of all, aarp would not be working toward the passage of health reform the did anything to take away your medicare benefits. those are not on the table. it is not part of the discussion. what is is that medicare which is symptomatic of broader problems in the system is not on stable financial footing. it is going broke. we need to change the way medicare operates just as we need to change the way our overall health care system operates. we need to move away from a volumetric type of system and move towards a performance-based system that rewards doctors and hospitals for outcomes. it sounds a huge. there are minor steps over time there are minor steps over time that will have to reorien make sure that your children and grandchildren have a medicare program that they can depend upon. >> the next call comes from illinois, the independent line. >> thank you for having me, c- span. i wanted to ask what the aarp's stance on folks on m