Community Musings (with herbal addendum)
Posted June 23rd, 2008 by Jessica Feltz W...
I stumbled across an article in Ode magazine, about a former acupuncturist (Denise Cerreta) who got "fed-up" with her acu-business and in 2003 created a restaurant with a mission to feed the hungry in her community. Denise serves healthy, organic foods in a beautiful setting, and she tells her customers to "pay what they can afford"...if they don't have money, they can work in the kitchen to pay-off their bill.
Isn't it interesting that this cafe and WCA were developing at the same time?
Here in Fredrerick county, there is a chiropractor and yoga instructor who offer their services on a "pay what you can afford" basis with wooden boxes in their entry-ways.
I have a patient who is trying to figure-out how to bring the CAN model to her sculpting classes (her challenge is determining how to make her expenses for the supplies needed to hold her teachings).
Amy Walsh, wife of philly acupunk Korben Perry, has integrated the community model into her world as an artist.
What else do you envision operating on a sliding scale or community basis?
I will be travelling through the Midwest this summer, and am delighted that I can search for free lodging through CouchSurfing, which allows you to crash in someone's home in exchange for your offer to do the same for another weary traveller. (And think about how much more fun it will be to stay with hosts who are connected to their communities!)
PaperBackSwap allows voracious readers (like myself) to exchange our previously read materials endlessly, for free, with other readers who are finished with their books.
And then there's the whole Freecycle community, which aims to keep our clutter out of landfills by connecting individuals who are finished with a material object to others who are in need of such... (Frederick boasts the largest Freecycle community in the nation, with over 8,000 participants--a huge number, for our town of only 50,000 individuals!)
I would love to hear your thoughts on what other services could (and already do!) follow in this path of community mindedness...
Herbs
I forgot to bring-in the herb piece. Last week, I had a delightful visit from soon-to-be community acupuncturist Karisa, and we got to talking about the herb piece. How can we bring the beauty of herbs into a CAN model? Looking at the "One World Every Body Eats" restuarant model makes me wonder if herbs could be disseminated in a "bar-style" for "pay what you can afford" prices. It might work like this:
Patient walks into CA clinic. Upon entering, there is a bar-style counter attended by an herbalist, with many large jars of raw herbs sitting on shelves behind the barista-herbalist. Patient stops at the "bar" for a tongue and pulse exam and requests one week's worth of herbs. Barista checks the patient's herbal file and tells the patient to go on in for acupuncture. Patient enters CA room, receives treatment, and 45 minutes later gets-up. Patient places money for acupuncture in CA box, then heads out to the herbal bar where a specially-prepared raw formula is waiting. (or granule or tea pills or whatever form is used by the barista) Patient places money for the herbs, within suggested sliding scale, in a second box at the bar. Perhaps the barista prepares a single dose of the formula to be drunk at the "bar", or perhaps there is comfortable seating inside or out for the patron to enjoy a dose of herbal goodness.
I have a classmate who prepares raw personalized tea bags for her patients by combining raw herbs, blending them in a super-powered coffee grinder, and then placing them in individual tea bags for easy consumption.
Another acupunk I know of administered single raw herbs and instructed his patients in how to prepare congee. He didn't call this "herbs" but rather "food" and found his patients complied with his request to consume 2 bowls per day. Easy to distribute, easy to consume, affordable for tight budgets.
I imagine that in as much as acupunks can learn to treat patients very quickly, herbalists--when focusing strictly on the herbal component--can learn to prepare herbal formulas very quickly and therefore affordably. What do you think? In what other ways might herbs be distributed in a CA model clinic?
Hi Jessica! This is where I
Hi Jessica!
This is where I first learned of community mindedness...
http://www.wildernessawareness.org/
and this is what the guy who started this school is doing now...
http://8shields.org/jonyoung
it is a really great place to study and practice with great people... and learn about community mindedness of native people.
all good medicine,
Ben