Marilee worked with special needs children in Minnesota before moving back to Cincinnati to care for her grandmother. A financial data coordinator at the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati, she also cared for her teenaged son and daughter.

Then Marilee’s chronic breathing condition worsened, resulting in a long hospital stay. Instead of one medication, she now needed eight. Marilee overcame all obstacles and returned to work, but she earned just a few dollars too much to qualify for assistance. It seemed she would have to choose between her family’s needs and purchasing her medication.

That’s when Marilee discovered the St. Vincent de Paul Charitable Pharmacy. “They listened to me,” Marilee said. “They sat down and explained the doses and made everything clear.”

Without the Charitable Pharmacy, Marilee said she would still be hospitalized, separated from her family, unable to say five words without losing her breath. Instead she is still a working mother able to stand on her own.