CLOE JONES HONORED AS SVDP’S INAUGURAL FRASSATI SCHOLAR Cloe Jones, McNicholas H.S. Class of 2022, has been selected as this year’s Frassati Scholarship winner. Cloe was selected in recognition of her involvement with the SVDP Youth Conference at McNicholas, where she served as its vice president for the past two years, as well as her demonstrated commitment to the Vincentian values of faith, friendship and service. In a letter recommending Cloe for the Frassati award, Teresa M. Davis, Theology Educator at McNicholas, applauds Cloe’s efforts to make other students feel welcome within their group. “Cloe is the student who will make those students who may be quiet and on the sidelines have a positive encounter at our meetings and events,” Davis writes. “She is a welcoming hand of
inclusion and diversity, ensuring to greet new, shy students to encourage confidence.”
Cloe says she stepped up to a leadership role in the SVDP Youth Conference at McNicholas after being involved in a car crash during her junior year of high school. “I truly understood what it was like to be here one day and gone the next,” Cloe says, reflecting on the incident. As she underwent physical therapy and recovered from speech and vision issues, Cloe says she decided she needed to use her voice for things she is passionate about. One of those things was – and still is – service to those in need. “I felt God calling me,” Cloe says. “Now, I continue to learn more and more and see how service is truly God’s kindness and love in action.” Cloe will apply the $1,000 Frassati Scholarship to her next journey at Kent State University this fall, where she will major in marketing with a minor in social justice studies. The Frassati Scholarship, established in 2022, is awarded annually by St. Vincent de Paul – Cincinnati in memory of Neal Johnson Lain, a dedicated young Vincentian. It is named after Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, the patron of Vincentian youth around the world.
CHARITABLE PHARMACY DIRECTOR NAMED ‘HEALTH CARE HERO’ Dr. Rusty Curington, PharmD, RPh, BC-AMD, Director of the St. Vincent de Paul Charitable Pharmacy, was recognized by the Cincinnati Business Courier as one of its 2022 Health Care Heroes. Curington took home the top honor in the Manager category, in recognition of his leadership of a team of staff and volunteers who deliver free prescriptions and pharmaceutical care to patients across Southwest Ohio. The Charitable Pharmacy, which has filled over 650,000 prescriptions since operations began in 2006, has received accolades both regionally and nationally for improving health outcomes for its patients. “The markers of success at the Charitable Pharmacy are
patient-centric,” Curington says, highlighting measures such as the 51% reduction in patient hospitalizations and 64% of patients with improved diabetes control. “Our pharmacists function as health care’s private tutors, empowering patients to both know and improve their health metrics.” The Business Courier also highlighted the Charitable Pharmacy’s addition of a nurse practitioner during the COVID-19 pandemic, which Curington explains was born in response to patients’ needs for an accessible primary care provider. Says Curington: “When someone leaves the ER or hospital without a prescription, they need immediate medication access with physician follow-up. Whether in-person or via telehealth, the Charitable Pharmacy now closes both medication and health service gaps to prevent hospital readmissions and improve patient health.” For more updates about St. Vincent de Paul and highlights of news coverage, be sure to follow our social media pages @SVDPcincinnati. SVDPCINCINNATI.ORG
3