Two teachers win Golden Apple awards Tracy Cotton and Paris Bouchard excelled at teaching with The St. Louis American’s NIE program.
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St. LouiS AmericAn The
CAC Audited JUNE 5 – 11, 2014
Vol. 85 No. 9 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
‘Do something now’ Release of ‘For the Sake of All’ study leads to call for action By Chris King Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Wiley Price
Jason Q. Purnell, assistant professor at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University and leader of the “For the Sake of All” research team
“Do something now,” Chanelle P. Hardy, keynote speaker of the “For the Sake of All” community conference, urged a packed auditorium at the Missouri History Museum on Friday morning. Hardy is senior vice president for policy and executive director of the National Urban League Washington Bureau. She was asked to lend national
n “Hospitals and universities need to better align our resources with community needs.” – Dr. Will Ross
African Americans in St. Louis that was released at the conference. The study – conducted by seven researchers from Washington University and Saint Louis University and led by Jason Q. Purnell, an assistant professor at WUSTL’s Brown School of Social Work – revealed 67 pages of evidence that blacks in the St. Louis region endure hideous disparities in health outcomes, compared to
perspective to “For the Sake of All,” a multi-disciplinary report on the health of
See STUDY, A7
Photo by Wiley Price
Chanelle P. Hardy, senior vice president for policy and executive director of the National Urban League Washington Bureau
SpeAking of fAith
Pharmacy as ministry Q&A with Michael Holmes, founder and president of Rx Outreach By Chris King Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Wiley Price
Haiti in the park The Haitian music group Ayati Rara performed at the St. Louis African Arts Festival in Forest Park last week.
Actress to receive Lifetime Achievement Award The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and the Urban League Guild will present the 11th Annual Salute to Women in Leadership Gala Friday, June 20 at the Renaissance St. Louis Grand Hotel. The Urban League will honor distinguished women
in leadership, at both local and national levels. Actress Anna Maria Horsford – best known for her roles in the films “Friday” and “Friday after Next” and the ‘80s sitcom “Amen” – will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. “I could turn on the TV and look at myself in three See HORSFORD, A6
CEO, He is really the one in charge.”
The St. Louis American: What’s your elevator pitch on Rx Outreach? Michael Holmes: Rx – Michael Outreach is a not-for-profit Holmes, pharmacy that provides Rx Outreach medicine that is affordable to low-income people. It was established in 2010 as a spinoff from Express Scripts. We have helped 176,000 people save over $220 million on medicine, and we are growing rapidly. In the first quarter of this year, we helped 51,000 people save $20 million. We provide over 500 different medications for chronic conditions and serve all 50 states, plus Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Urban League honors Anna Maria Horsford By Bridjes O’Neil Of The St. Louis American
For Michael Holmes, founder and president of Rx Outreach, a pharmacy can be a ministry. In 2010, he said, he heeded a call from God and left corporate America after 30 years – having served in senior leadership positions at Express Scripts, Edward Jones, Automatic Data Processing and Continental Airlines – to open his nonprofit pharmacy as a spinoff of Express Scripts. Based in Earth City, Rx Outreach now employs 85 people. The St. Louis American talked to the 55-year-old St. Louis native, who worships at Grace Church in Maryland Heights, about the mission of Rx Outreach, n “I don’t use Medicaid expansion, and the ‘CEO’ title. whether a Christian faith is consistent with business God is our practices.
The American: What motivated you to start this business? Michael Holmes: I was praying one morning Actress Anna Maria Horsford
See HOLMES, A6