By Stephen Appezzato
LONG BRANCH – In celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the YMCA of Greater Monmouth County (YMCA) held its 35th Memorial Community Breakfast, honoring community members who have embodied the spirit and values of the civil rights leader.
Suzy Dyer, executive director of the Parker Family Health Center (PFHC) in Red Bank, received the YMCA MLK Human Dignity Award for leading a health center on Red Bank’s West Side that provides a wide range of care to uninsured patients.
Most of the center’s patients live in Red Bank, but the PFHC also serves many from Asbury Park, Neptune, Long Branch, Freehold and the Bayshore.
“We see people from across the county,” Dyer said.
“Transportation and finances are an obstacle to getting health care, so we try to break down the obstacles to getting the care one needs by providing transportation at no cost to the patient through a partner- ship with Uber Health and the generosity of a donor,” she explained.
Since Dyer became executive director in 2019, she noticed the demand for the center has increased.
“We have also seen an increase in the number of visits, which is due to our expansion of services. We’re offering more services under one roof,” she said.
In one example, the PFHC could only offer eye care to patients with diabetes as the clinic only had one volunteer eye doctor. Now, the center has four.
“We’ve expanded that service to all of our patients, which is wonderful,” Dyer proudly said.
Other new services the PFHC now offers are on-site phlebotomy, mental health treatment and even nutritional counseling.
For Dyer, the recognition at the breakfast was touching. “When you work, you don’t consider ever receiving any recognition; you do it because you love it, and it’s a privilege to do it. So, to be recognized was a surprise and a humbling moment,” she said.
Across the street from the center lies the Ritesh Shah Charitable Pharmacy, whose founder, Ritesh Shah, was awarded the YMCA Social Responsibility Award. The pharmacy, which opened in 2022, is the first charitable pharmacy in the state.
The pharmacy serves Monmouth County residents who are “underserved or uninsured or even undocumented,” Shah said, providing life-saving medications to treat all types of illnesses.
“We provide them at no cost to them regardless of their status as long as they are living 300% below federal poverty line and not insured,” explained Shah.
Shah, who previously operated five pharmacies and became CEO of Legacy Pharmacy Group, opened the charitable pharmacy with his wife Asha after his sister Rena died at the age of 43.
“We help them (patients) in honor of my baby sister who passed away,” Shah said.
Ritesh and Asha are both pharmacists who moved to Monmouth County from India more than two decades ago.
“I came to live in this country almost 30 years ago from India with my education and a few dollars in my pocket and Monmouth County has made me who I am today,” Shah said. “I owe back to the community, especially those who are in need, those who are underserved.”
The couple spent their retirement savings to purchase the pharmacy building at 224 Shrewsbury Ave., Red Bank.
“As a practicing pharmacist, I have seen enough of the broken system that we live in,” he said, speaking about health care and insurance structure in the United States.
“A lot of people have to decide whether they want to put food on the table or use that money to buy insulin.”
“Health care should be a basic necessity,” he said.
The third award that was presented was the YMCA Togetherhood Champion Award. Kelly Ellis-Foster of Old Bridge received the honor for her time and commitment volunteering with the YMCA and addressing community needs.
Alongside Dyer, Shah and Ellis-Foster’s recognitions at the annual YMCA breakfast, held this year at Ocean place Resort & Spa, the organization presented awards to two local high school students who won the YMCA’s annual MLK Essay Contest.
Anika Samir Ajgaonkar and Madelyn Sanchez-Berra, from Biotechnology and Red Bank Regional high schools, respectively, received $3,000 scholarships for their essays recounting a time when they faced setbacks and challenges related to racial equity, social justice and MLK’s values. The students explained how their challenges affected them and what they learned from their experiences.
The article originally appeared in the January 18 – January 24, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
