NEW! Susie’s Fund for Medication Assistance

July 21, 2017 11:27 am Published by

John Randolph Foundation is excited to launch Susie’s Fund for Medication Assistance, an eligibility-based program that will help people who struggle to pay for their prescription medications. The program is made possible through a bequest from the late Ursula M. Gibbs and is a collaboration between JRF, CrossOver Healthcare Ministry, and Virginia Health Care Foundation.



Relatives of the late Susie Robinson Jones honored her legacy July 20 at John Randolph Foundation’s unveiling of “Susie’s Fund,” a program that will provide medication assistance to those in need using funding from the Ursula M. Gibbs Medication Endowment. Through the endowment, Susie’s “legacy of caregiving,” said her daughter Carolyn Brown, “will be forever.” [Sarah Vogelsong/progres-index.com]



The program is run by CrossOver HealthCare Ministry out of a satellite office at 110 North Main Street in Hopewell, next to the Foundation’s office. People in need will make an appointment with CrossOver staff who will help them apply to the program using software from the Virginia Health Care Foundation, The Pharmacy Connection.

The Pharmacy Connection offers many classes of medications covering chronic diseases ranging from diabetes to hypertension, clinical depression to asthma. The program works by enrolling patients in drug companies’ existing patient assistance programs.

Each patient’s case is unique, and so in addition to The Pharmacy Connection, patients may be connected CrossOver HealthCare Ministry’s pharmacy in Chesterfield or given a voucher to purchase their medication at a local pharmacy.

In August 2017, Susie’s Fund for Medication Assistance began working with patients. Call (804) 452-0107 for more information.

Funding for this new, life-saving program is made possible by the Ursula M. Gibbs  Medication Endowment at JRF. Endowments are permanent funds designed to grow over time, giving an ever-increasing amount to a specific cause. Mrs. Gibbs was a long-time supporter of the Foundation through her generous  scholarship program.  Her endowment was inspired  by her friend and caregiver of over 10 years, Susie Robinson Jones.

Susie’s Story

Susie Jones put everyone’s needs before her own.  She was everyone’s rock.  She was a caregiver to many people in her family as well as to Ursula “Sue” Gibbs.  Over the course of ten years, Susie and Sue spent many happy hours together.  They were more like family than caregiver and client. In 2003, Susie developed a cough that would not go away. When she finally went to the doctor, she was told that she had inoperable liver cancer. There was medicine that may help her but it would cost $5,000 per month. It may as well have been $5 million a month because Susie simply didn’t have that kind of money.



Susie Jones, top row and second from the left, with her family



Susie’s pharmacist Kan Kong of Central Drug Pharmacy was able to call pharmaceutical companies and search for coupons, getting the cost down to $2,500.  Susie’s family pooled their resources and purchased one month’s supply.  Sue Gibbs contacted her friends at John Randolph Foundation and asked for their assistance in finding Susie some financial assistance to continue the medication.  But unfortunately, Susie passed before JRF could put her in touch with organizations that could help her.  Sue never forgot her friend and her struggle to purchase the medication she needed.

Almost nine years after Susie’s death, Mrs. Gibbs passed away.  In her will, Sue Gibbs left over $900,000 to create an endowed fund at John Randolph Foundation to assist people in the Hopewell area with their medications if they cannot afford them.

Sue Gibbs’ legacy now remains with her generous scholarship program and several endowments at JRF.  Her love for arts, music and theater, her love for history and the beautification of Hopewell and her compassion for helping folks with medication assistance all live through her generosity with established permanent endowments.

Susie Jones’ legacy as a loving and compassionate caregiver and friend to so many now remains with Susie’s Fund for Medication Assistance that is permanently endowed for a healthy community.

Click here to read The Progress-Index’s article on the announcement.

Susie’s Fund for Medication Assistance
110 North Main Street
Hopewell, VA 23860
Phone: (804) 452-0107
Fax: (804) 804-452-0824

NOTE: Article updated November 2017 with new program location.

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This post was written by AJ James

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