From Incarceration to Gainful
Employment with SVdP
From SVDP Seattle King County Website
One rainy day in February of 2013, Rusty knocked on
the SVdP Council office main entrance door wanting
to apply for work. A senior staff member reviewed
his application and decided to give him an
opportunity to work for St. Vincent de Paul. He was
going to be a painter and all-purpose maintenance
employee.
Rusty had been incarcerated in Washington prisons
eight different times for burglary and fraud between
1997 and 2010. When he came to SVdP, he was ready
for work and that he had made a complete
transformation from a life of crime and was excited
about a “new opportunity.”
His desire for change can be traced to his time in
prison in solitary confinement, where he says he
“talked with God and committed himself to wanting
a simple and normal life.” He has been working at
SVdP on a part time basis since that rainy day last
winter. He has held as many as three jobs at one
time, keeping up on his bills and being selfsufficient. His new lifestyle now revolves around his
work, his three kids and two grandchildren, and his
motorcycle. He has been a model employee. Rusty
says that “St. Vincent de Paul has been good to me. It
is a down to earth organization. I am thankful for
their help.”
SVdP Detroit Partners with Rx Outreach to Provide
No-Cost Prescription Medication
SVdP’s Archdiocesan Council of Detroit, in partnership
with Rx Outreach, has launched a voucher prescription
to make prescription medicines available to incomeeligible patients in need of chronic medication.
Those individuals who are within 300 percent of the
federal poverty level are given an authorized voucher
form that they can take to their physician. With the
physician’s prescription, this form is mailed to Rx
Outreach for processing, and Rx Outreach will mail the
medications directly to patients.
Many people in southeast Michigan are hurting because
of the high cost of prescription drugs,” said Bill Brazier,
Executive Director of SVdP in Detroit. “We’re very
pleased to help alleviate some of that need with this
crucial program. We’re also asking eligible participants
in the program for a voluntary commitment that will
help move them toward a healthy lifestyle. This
commitment is not a requirement to determine
eligibility for the program, it simply helps promote better
habits and choices.”
medications regularly, discuss their diet, rest and
exercise with their physician, and act daily on the advice
that will enable them to live healthier lives.
“Prescription drugs represent one of the highest out-ofpocket medical care costs forcing many people to
sacrifice their health in order to cover basic everyday
needs, such as food and utilities”, says Marsha England,
Director-Client Services of Rx Outreach. “We are thrilled
to partner with St. Vincent de Paul on this program. This
is about helping people stay healthy, which is what Rx
Outreach is all about.”
Rx Outreach is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization that has
a fully automated mail order pharmacy which serves
more than 85,000
patients annually,
dispensing 1.3 million
months of medication
per year, saving
patients more than $70
million.
The voluntary commitment asks that patients take their
It is not enough for me to love God if my neighbor does not love him. -St. Vincent de Paul
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