When Jacqueline opened the doors of her independent pharmacy and wellness center in Ypsilanti in May 2025, she walked into a growing gap in Michigan’s healthcare system—one created by the quiet but steady disappearance of neighborhood pharmacies. 

Just weeks earlier, a long‑standing chain pharmacy nearby had closed after nearly two decades. Patients, many of them elderly or managing chronic conditions without reliable transportation, were given little notice and few options. Jacqueline’s pharmacy quickly became the place they turned.

Within a short period, her business absorbed nearly 70 percent of the displaced patients, ensuring continuity of care. “We were able to help the patients continue with their medication and their therapy without disruption,” she said. In a healthcare environment where medication gaps can lead to emergency visits or worsening conditions, that continuity mattered.

Independent pharmacies across Michigan are under severe strain. While the state had roughly 2,300 pharmacies in 2023, both store counts and employment have continued to decline, reflecting national trends. Independent operators—which often serve patients with complex needs that chains struggle to maintain—have borne the brunt of these closures. Since 2020, hundreds have shut their doors statewide, widening access gaps in many communities.

Jacqueline’s path to ownership reflects another layer of that challenge. An immigrant from Tanzania who arrived in the United States in the mid‑1990s, she earned her pharmacy degree from Howard University and spent years working for large chains after relocating to Michigan. Opening her own pharmacy had long been her goal, but access to financing proved daunting. “I was turned down several times,” she recalled. As a first‑time business owner in a tightening industry, traditional lenders saw risk rather than community need.

After a discouraging early experience with another lender, Jacqueline connected with OppFund. The interaction felt different. “They gave me a chance and they trusted me,” she said. OppFund approved her first loan around 2020, enabling her to open an initial location in Westland. After successfully repaying that loan, Jacqueline returned five years later seeking capital to launch the Ypsilanti pharmacy.

The second loan covered build‑out costs, equipment purchases, and working capital, allowing Jacqueline to hire two pharmacists and two technicians. It also enabled her to expand services beyond basic dispensing, including medication compounding, hormonal health programs, pharmacogenomic testing, and free blood pressure screenings. “We consider ourselves as a preventive care pharmacy,” she said.

That role often extends outside the store. Jacqueline has personally delivered medications, identified unsafe home conditions, and connected patients to services like Meals on Wheels. “I’m trying to help connect patients to the right resources,” she explained.

Today, her pharmacy has become a stabilizing presence in Ypsilanti, preserving access to care when another provider vanished. For OppFund, the loan represents something larger: capital deployed not just to launch a business, but to sustain community health where systems have pulled back. As Jacqueline put it, “If it wasn’t for Opportunity Fund the first time, I don’t think I would even have this pharmacy right now.”