A new location for the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store and Donation Center in Western Hills, complete with charitable pharmacy opened in mid-January. After a successful first month, the store received a blessing from St. Martin of Tours pastor Father Terry Hamilton as part of a private event Feb. 19 celebrating the relocation.

Located at 3015 Glenhills Way in the former Glenway Chevrolet building, the new store has 36,000 square feet, including 3,000 for the pharmacy. The new facility replaces the old St. Vincent de Paul store at Glenway Crossing, which had operated since 2010.

“This new location will improve prescription access to uninsured and underinsured residents, reduce the transportation barrier for current patients and allow us to reach new patients as well,” said Mike Dunn, Executive Director, St. Vincent de Paul. “The concept of bringing our services to our clients is nothing new. It’s what we do every day with our home visits. This is our busiest store, so it only makes sense to take advantage of that and make it easier for people in the community to get the help they need.”

Dunn spoke at the early morning event to assembled staff, volunteers and others about the store’s early success.

“The store is performing exceedingly well,” he said. “We’re averaging over 500 customers per day, over $9,000 in sales per day and equally important, we have redeemed 190 vouchers so far valued at over $13,000. We are meeting our mission here in the Western Hills Community.”

According to SVDP’s press release, the St. Vincent de Paul Charitable Pharmacy is the only pharmacy in southwest Ohio dedicated to providing free pharmaceutical care to people in need who have no other way to afford their medication. In 2015, the Charitable Pharmacy filled 39,464 prescriptions valued at $4.98 million. Since its inception in 2006, the Pharmacy has filled 285,600 prescriptions, valued at nearly $17.5 million.

The pharmacy at the new location is the organization’s second. Another SVDP pharmacy, located at the Liz Carter Outreach Center in Cincinnati’s West End, opened in 2006.

Those interested in utilizing the Charitable Pharmacy must make an appointment by calling 513-347-0743. The Western Hills Pharmacy will be open every Tuesday and Friday from 10a.m.-4 p.m. The Western Hills Thrift Store and Donation Center is open Monday-Saturday from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

St. Vincent de Paul operates seven thrift stores in the greater Cincinnati area. In 2015 the organization distributed $800,000 in clothing, furniture and household goods through its voucher program.