A neighborly approach: a Palm Harbor non-profit sells pharmaceuticals to seniors at cost.(Healthcare)

Florida Trend, June, 2004 by Brill, Amy Welch

As CEO of Neighborly Care Network, a non-profit in Pinellas County that helps the elderly via programs like Meals on Wheels, Debra Shade saw firsthand how rising drug prices affected her clients. Some, she says, were choosing pills over food and electricity. Others were filing for bankruptcy or taking second mortgages on their homes to pay for their prescription drugs.

To help her clients afford their medications, Shade launched Neighborly Pharmacy Services in January in Palm Harbor. The pharmacy purchases drugs from a wholesale distributor in Orlando and resells them at cost to ...