Announcement: Pharmacy of Grace Hires New Interim Executive Director

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Jan. 10, 2024 (Kansas City, KS) – Pharmacy of Grace is pleased to announce the hiring of its first executive director, marking a significant moment of growth for this 16-month-old organization. Janice Benjamin started as Interim Executive Director at Pharmacy of Grace in January 2024.

Janice is a seasoned nonprofit and philanthropy executive with a deep passion for health equity and healthcare access. Janice is drawn to the important work at Pharmacy of Grace because it aligns with her lifelong passion for improvingthe health of our community.

“I believe deeply that all people should have access to healthcare, and Pharmacy of Grace is doing this critical work. You cannot underestimate the importance of access to medication, since the inability to afford medication can make a person’s health and quality of life spiral so quickly.”

In 2020, Janice retired as the vice president of development for The University of Kansas Health System where she built a highly regarded philanthropy program from the ground up to support clinical innovation and patient care at the region’s leading academic medical center. She previously served as the vice president of the Menorah Medical Center Foundation.

Janice Benjamin

Janice spent her early professional career as a teacher, career development and management consultant, business owner, and author. She was the president of the Career Management Center, consulting with individual business and professional clients and corporations. She co-authored How to Be Happily Employed, published with a resource guide for six US cities.

She is a graduate of Tulane University with a BA in secondary education and sociology and holds a MA from the University of Missouri-Kansas City

in guidance and counseling. Her civic involvement includes serving as the past president of the Junior League of Kansas City, MO, former Board Chair of the Central Exchange, and a founding board member of The Women’s Foundation of Greater Kansas City (United We).  Currently, she is a member of the board of directors for HNC (head & neck cancer) Living Foundation and for JFS KC (Jewish Family Services).

 

 

 

 

Pharmacy of Grace Annual Report: 2022

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Jan. 11, 2023 (Kansas City, KS) — Pharmacy of Grace officially opened in August 2022. As we reflect on the past year, it is with gratitude and a deep sense of purpose that we share the impactful journey we’ve embarked on together. Countless lives have been changed already and we can’t wait to see how much more good we can do in our community in the coming years. Thank you for your support.

Here is a link to our 2022 annual report:

Newsletter 2022, 1.11.2023

Diabetes Awareness Month

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 9th, 2022

KCK Nonprofits Team Up for Diabetes Awareness Month Event

 

Kansas City, KS – Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in the U.S. and that number is probably underreported. According to the 2022 Kansas Diabetes Report, black non-Hispanics are twice as likely to have diabetes than white non-Hispanics. The report also found that pre-diabates is a significant health concern in the Hispanic community. Hispanic people are about twice as likely to be pre-diabetic compared to white non-Hispanic. Diabetes rates are also significantly higher for people with an income below $50,000 a year. 

Both Pharmacy of Grace and Mercy and Truth Medical Missions are located near 31st and Minnesota Ave in Kansas City, KS, an area with a significant African-American and Hispanic population. The organizations are teaming up to raise awareness about diabetes, prediabetes, and diabetes prevention to help their patients achieve better health outcomes.

The Diabetes Awareness Event will take place November 15th at 721 N 31 St Kansas City, KS 66102 from 9 am until 12 pm. The event is a collaboration between many community groups with a heart for Wyandotte County health and well-being.

The event corresponds with our normal Food Mobile distribution thanks to the Church of the Resurrection food ministry program Hunger Stoppers. Their mobile food pantry always offers a healthy selection of fresh fruit and vegetables. Well-balanced, healthy meals are a first defense against diabetes and prediabetes. The food mobile is parked out in the parking lot, and other community services will be offered inside our building. 

Mercy & Truth Medical Missions will be offering free A1C diabetes tests and blood pressure screenings on site. Wyandotte Angels will be passing out cold weather items like blankets and coats. The Wyandotte County Public Health Department will be providing information about diabetes and prevention. Heart to Heart International will be there as well with Covid and Flu vaccines, and Pharmacy of Grace staff will be giving flu shots as well as talking to patients about how to sign up for PoG discounted prescription prices. 

Pharmacy of Grace is a new charitable pharmacy focused on helping people afford their medication on an on-going basis, not just as a stop-gap measure. 

New reports have found that the price of medication is rising faster than inflation and as those costs skyrocket, another report found that 1 in 5 Americans with diabetes are rationing their medications. Pharmacy of Grace has private and nonprofit partnerships that can help people access prescription medications at a deep discount and can help patients afford their diabetes medications and live healthier lives. 

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Pharmacy of Grace Backgrounder: 

Pharmacy of Grace is a new 501c(3) nonprofit in Wyandotte County, Kansas, the county with the highest percentage of people living in poverty in the greater Kansas City Metro. The pharmacy’s location near I-635 and Minnesota is an area of tremendous social and healthcare need with 30-40% of residents uninsured. 

Pharmacy of Grace is the only free-standing charitable pharmacy in Kansas, and is focused on helping uninsured or underinsured patients manage their diseases through access and education. This is why it also offers one-on-one counseling to make sure patients fully understand how to take their medications and why they must be taken correctly. Pharmacy of Grace has spanish-speaking staff and a translation service covering 300 different languages. Pharmacy of Grace believes increasing access to life-saving medications can break the cycle of homelessness, poverty, school absentee days, and unemployment caused by unmanaged medical conditions. 

 

Mercy & Truth Medical Missions, KCK Backgrounder: 

Mercy and Truth Medical Missions is a 501c3 founded 26 years ago to assist the uninsured and underinsured receive high quality medical care regardless of their ability to pay. With clinics located in the richest county in Kansas (Johnson) and one of the poorest in Kansas (Wyandotte), the clinics will see nearly 10,000 patients in 2022.

 

Contact: 

Tess Koppelman 

Tess K Communications 

TessKComms@gmail.com

 

Pharmacy of Grace Grand Opening

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

July 29th, 2022 

 

PHARMACY OF GRACE GRAND OPENING IN WYANDOTTE COUNTY 

Charitable pharmacy helps uninsured and underinsured people access affordable medications

Kansas City, KS – It started as a vision to create something unique in the Kansas City area and increase access to prescription medicine. Now this vision is a reality. 

 

On August 16th, Pharmacy of Grace, a charitable pharmacy, will mark its official grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. at 721 N 31st St Kansas City KS 66102. Pharmacy of Grace will also be offering community outreach services that morning thanks to our neighbors Mercy and Truth Medical Missions and the Church of the Resurrection Mobile Food Pantry, offering services such as food, blood pressure checks, and diabetes testing (Rapid on-site A1C) from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. This will be an excellent opportunity to meet members of our community, the people who Pharmacy of Grace will be serving. 

 

Pharmacy of Grace (POG) is unique and fills an important gap in the Kansas City metro as the only stand-alone pharmacy dedicated to serving uninsured and underinsured patients on a long-term basis, whereas many programs in the metro focus on short-term needs. 

 

Many medical conditions (such as hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure, asthma, COPD, Bi-Polar, and migraines) often go unmanaged simply because patients can’t afford medication or do not understand how to take it, and this eventually causes people to seek emergency medical care. Pharmacy of Grace aims to break the cycle of homelessness, poverty, school absentee days, and unemployment caused by these unmanaged medical conditions. This is why POG Pharmacists will also meet with patients in one-on-one consulting rooms to make sure patients fully understand their medications, how to take them properly, and staff can help overcome language barriers that could impact medication adherence. 

 

MORE BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND DATA: 

 

Pharmacy of Grace’s story started several years ago while founder John Yost was on a mission trip in Ohio and toured a charitable pharmacy there. As a pharmacist, he understands how important it is for people to manage their chronic illness with medication, so he wanted to bring this concept to Kansas City’s most vulnerable populations. 

 

Pharmacy of Grace is now an approved 501(c)3 and is located in Wyandotte County, Kansas, the county with the highest percentage of people living in poverty in the greater Kansas City Metro.  The pharmacy’s location near I-635 and Minnesota is an area of tremendous social and healthcare need with 30-40% of residents uninsured. According to a recent news report, Wyandotte County ranked at the bottom in Kansas when it comes to health outcomes and health factors. 

 

Another challenge: research finds 20-30% of prescriptions that doctors write for their patients are never filled and 50% of medications that should be taken for chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes are not taken as prescribed. Doctors who care for uninsured or underinsured patients often know that the prescriptions they are writing won’t or can’t be filled, which only compounds the patient’s chronic health conditions. 

 

Pharmacy of Grace Vision, Purpose, and Mission

Our Vision is for all people, regardless of age, race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, religion, disability or sexual orientation, to have affordable and sustainable access to prescription medications and pharmacy services that optimize health in our community.  Most of all, we will provide hope, often at very dark times.

The Purpose of Pharmacy of Grace, Inc. is to break the cycle of homelessness, poverty, school absentee days, and unemployment caused by unmanaged medical conditions. Many chronic medical conditions (such as hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure, asthma, COPD, bi-polar, and migraines) often go unmanaged, which eventually can cause people to seek costly medical care and possible emergency hospitalization.

The Mission of Pharmacy of Grace is to improve access to prescription medication for uninsured and underinsured individuals and to increase the number of prescription medications available to vulnerable populations in Kansas.

 

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Contact: 

Tess Koppelman, Tess K Communications

EMAIL TessKComms@gmail.com