St. Joseph Parish to take collection for people in need

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
March 2, 2006

St. Joseph Parish in Sioux City will be taking on a new collection to help people that cannot afford prescription medications.

Father Mike Erpelding, pastor at St. Joseph Parish, has been in contact with people at the Center for Siouxland who are addressing people's needs.

"I became aware that there was a need for people to get prescription medication that can't afford it," said Father Erpelding. "I thought that would be a good project for our parish to again reach out to the poor."

According to the priest, the two collections that the parish currently helps with are the Soup Kitchen collection in October and the Catholic Charities collection at Christmas.

"I presented to the people that for St. Joseph's Day, the patron of our parish, that we add another leg to the stool. A stool needs three legs to really stand up. We are going to add a third leg to our local giving to the poor," said Father Erpelding.

A second collection will be taken on March 20, the day after the Feast of St. Joseph, for people who need prescription medications. There will also be a breakfast served that morning. Father Erpelding will give a presentation on devotion to St. Joseph between the 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Masses.

"In speaking with Fran Rochester at the Center, I asked what the greatest need was," said Father Erpelding. "She believed that this was a great need."

While speaking to Rochester, Father Erpelding noted that she gave him examples of people that are in need of medications but don't have the funds to purchase them.

"One example was about someone who needs medication to get well enough to go back to work, but can't afford it so they sit at home and continue to get sick and cannot work to pay for the medication," he said. "It is kind of a catch 22. If someone could pay for one months medication, they could get on their feet again and go back to work and afford it. They need to continue that medication to afford it."

Brenda Noll, emergency assistance coordinator at the Center for Siouxland, explained that the title of the program is the Emergency Assistance Prescription Program. She pointed out that the Center for Siouxland gets referrals from a variety of agencies including hospitals, Siouxland Mental Health, Siouxland Aging and Hospice as well as people that know that the assistance is coming in.

"We look at their current situation and their financial needs to determine if they are in need of the assistance here," said Noll. "Then we coordinate through them and their doctor as to what pharmacy we can fill it at. We see if we can get a lower cost for them or any programs we can hook them up with."

She noted the program was started at the Center because "there is a great need out there for people who do not have any insurance to get a prescription filled that could cost an outrageous amount."

Sometimes there is a need in between paperwork, so the Center works with the pharmacy and DHS to get assistance for people.

"We are limited, as to our funding, on how much we can support a person," said Noll.

She mentioned that on average they help about 20 or 22 people a month. Last year the Center for Siouxland assisted 216 people with prescriptions.

"There is such a great need out there," said Noll.