St. Vincent de Paul Pharmacy
St. Vincent de Paul offers a free pharmacy to provide better access to health resources
Original Article: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/health/st-vincent-de-paul-offers-free-pharmacy-access-health-resources/287-bb434b31-45ca-481d-a3e8-de829d05ee61
DALLAS — One scare was all it took for Demetray Haywood to do a 180-degree change.
“My diabetes was controlled. My high blood pressure was out of control,” said Haywood, a St. Vincent de Paul Pharmacy patient. “It was scary. I could barely walk 10 steps.”
Haywood weighed 300 pounds. Last June, he spent seven days in the hospital.
“I just wasn’t feeling right. I went and talked to my doctor. They admitted me to the hospital and ran all kinds of tests…I had a lot of water weight. My heart wasn’t working right. It wasn’t functioning properly,” said Haywood. “The amount of doctors that walked through my room at the hospital let me know it was serious. They clearly let me know it was serious. You need to change your way of thinking and changing your attitude about food.”
Luckily for Haywood, change came simply from going to work. He’s worked as a courier for St. Vincent de Paul’s Pharmacy in Dallas. It is a small space with a big impact.
“Free medications with dignity. Our main goal is to have our neighbors, our patients understand that we’re here with them along the ride,” said Carlos Irula, Pharmacy Director.
Irula manages prescriptions and home shipments to thousands across the state free of cost.
“We’re a very well-kept secret. Now, the secret is out,” said Irula.
They are saving patients such as Haywood thousands a year in prescription costs.
“It’s a blessing because I meet a lot of people that can’t afford it, truly can’t afford it,” said Haywood.
“Having this ability to break that barrier of transportation, break the barrier of financial ability, now let’s just get you healthy enough,” said Haywood. “I think it’s critical for me as a pharmacist, as a father, as a husband in a system where sometimes even as a healthcare professional, I can feel lost in a huge system. I can’t imagine not speaking the language, being sick, and now trying to feel better. It’s just very important for us to have that as a staple of our mission to help our fellow human beings.”
Last year alone, the pharmacy saw its biggest numbers in prescriptions.
“We surpassed 100,000 prescriptions. Those prescriptions served nearly 4,000 unique patients through DFW and the state,” said Irula.
The pharmacy serves about 300 cities throughout Texas. That is largely due to the Parata machine or what Christie Chavez, Pharmacy Technician, calls “Mad Max.”
“Oh yeah, that machine is a blessing,” said Chavez. “That’s makes our daily flow a whole lot easier than trying to count them manually.”
The machine fills about 600 prescriptions for the pharmacy a day.
“It frees up the pharmacists and allows them to be more focused on their patient,” said Haywood.
It is a focus he needed, as he’s now down 70 pounds.
“It was important for me for my grandkids. I wanted to see them grow up…I feel better, a lot better. I don’t take my health for granted,” said Haywood. “Life is great at my age. It is great.”
To apply for St. Vincent de Paul’s free pharmacy, you can visit the clinic at 5750 Pineland Drive #280 or apply online at svpdallas.org.
Happy Pentecost
“When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his native language? We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.””
Happy Easter from St Vincent de Paul
He is not here, for he has risen just as he said
Matthew 28:6
John 20: 1-18
On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned home.
But Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.”
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,”* which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me,* for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and what he told her.
Donation Truck Weekend
The St Vincent de Paul Donation truck will once again be at St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church.
Saturday April 27th and Sunday April 28th
8:00 am - 2:00 pm
Note: New Dates
The truck will be accepting gently used clothing, shoes, handbags or furniture. Your donations benefit our parish conference of St Vincent de Paul and provide basic essentials for families in nine North Texas counties. For a list of acceptable items or to schedule a home pickup for large items, please visit our web page: https://www.svdpfrisco.org/truck
Frisco ISD Job Fair
March 2, 2024
9 - 11:30 am
Lebanon Trail High School
5151 Ohio Dr
Frisco, Texas 75035
More Information: https://www.friscoisd.org/employment/current-openings
Frisco ISD typically posts positions for critical and unique needs and difficult-to-fill areas, including campus-based roles in special education, bilingual/ESL, math, science, library science and counseling. Posted teaching positions may not reflect all available positions.
FISD accepts applications throughout the year for all positions, including teaching, transportation, child nutrition and custodial services.
Remember that you are dust, and to dust, you shall return.
Remember that you are dust, and to dust, you shall return.
During Lent, let us spend the gift of time this Lenten season seeking the wisdom of heart taught by self-sacrifice, so that, dead to sin, we may rise to new life in Christ, in whom death has died.
O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next. Before the mountains were born or the earth or the world brought forth, you are God, without beginning or end.
You turn men back to dust and say: “Go back, sons of men.” To your eyes a thousand years are like yesterday, come and gone, no more than a watch in the night.
You sweep men away like a dream, like grass which springs up in the morning. In the morning it springs up and flowers: by evening it withers and fades.
So we are destroyed in your anger, struck with terror in your fury. Our guilt lies open before you; our secrets in the light of your face.
All our days pass away in your anger. Our life is over like a sigh. Our span is seventy years or eighty for those who are strong.
And most of these are emptiness and pain. They pass swiftly and we are gone. Who understands the power of your anger and fears the strength of your fury?
Make us know the shortness of our life that we may gain wisdom of heart. Lord, relent! Is your anger forever? Show pity to your servants.
Our Faith in Action
The following video is an excerpt from “Our Faith in Action: Today’s Society of St. Vincent de Paul,” airing on EWTN Global Catholic Television Network.
The series follows St. Vincent de Paul members, known as Vincentians, on their spiritual growth journey through service to people in need. From the Society’s traditional Home Visits, food pantries, and assistance with rent and utilities, to innovative health care, financial, and mentoring programs, Vincentians see the face of Christ in those we serve.
In the series, Vincentians volunteer across the country to bring effective, personalized help to people in poverty and share their stories of Christ’s love along the way.
“The series is great for highlighting the Society’s faith-filled members and some of our special works,” said SVdP National President Ralph Middlecamp. “We hope that television viewers who see ‘Our Faith in Action’ will feel we have answered their need for how they can put their own faith into action and then join the Society in their communities.”
In this episode, learn how thrift store shoppers can find affordable hidden treasures, and join Vincentians as they take on homelessness in one of the country’s biggest cities and visit with a neighbor in need. Tune in to learn how Vincentians put their faith in action every day across the country. (St. Louis, Los Angeles, Huntsville)