To provide prescription medication and wellness education to those in need.

Description:
The St. Vincent de Paul Community provided $1,048,983 worth of medicine to the
Mississippi Gulf Coast in 2009. Citizens of Biloxi represented 32% of that medicine. The Pharmacy also helped individuals from across the Coast, connect with 451 prescriptions valued at $277,956, through the Patient Assistance Programs sponsored by the pharmaceutical companies. Of those prescriptions, based on the percentage of Biloxi clients, it is estimated that Biloxi citizens received $88,946 worth of medicine.

History:
In the early 1990’s, members of St. Vincent de Paul along the Mississippi Gulf Coast began to discuss the impact of spiraling prescription costs to people who were financially challenged in their community. Members were beginning to witness a troubling trend among people they served. An increasing number of people were forced to choose between purchasing their prescription medicine or paying for shelter and food.
In 1997, inspired by an innovative program in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a group of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) Society members began to organize a free pharmacy to provide medication for the financially disadvantaged of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The group was able to gain the support of a number of physicians willing to share their supply of pharmaceutical samples and a group of dedicated licensed pharmacists willing to dispense the donated medicine. The Community Pharmacy was licensed by the State of Mississippi as an open-door pharmacy with the provision that the pharmacy could not dispense controlled medicines.
In May 1998, the Community Pharmacy first opened its doors in a building shared with Coastal Family Health, a nonprofit provider of health services for the financially disadvantaged, at 681 Division Street, a property leased to the Pharmacy at a nominal fee by the City of Biloxi and Coastal. When the Pharmacy opened in 1998, it operated one day a week serving thirty (30) people each week. The Pharmacy grew rapidly, typically assisting more than 750 community members a year. Since the Pharmacy’s inception, it has served over 5,000 people in south Mississippi. In each of the ten years of the Pharmacy’s operation, greater amounts of medication have been dispensed. In 2001, the Pharmacy dispensed medication valued at $460,845.02; in 2003, $759,106.60; in 2004, $829,956.66 and in 2008, $1,312,580.02.
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The tidal surge resulting from the storm flooded the pharmacy with over nine feet of water leaving seven year’s of work completely destroyed. Through the outpouring of generosity across the nation and the hard work of the Community Pharmacy’s Board of Directors and staff, the pharmacy re-opened to the community in March, 2006 in a temporary modular building. With the support of the City of Biloxi, the pharmacy now has permanent home in a new facility with Coastal Family Health Services opened in April, 2008. The new facility is located at 715B Division Street in Biloxi.

Contact people:

Samuel Burke, Executive Director, (phone), (email) Bobbie Duhon, Administrative Assistant, (phone), (email)

Address:

715-B Division Street Biloxi, MS 39533 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.svdprx.org

Directions:

Located in Biloxi on the corner of Division St. and Main Street in the Coastal Family Health Clinic.

Last updated on February 18, 2013