It's been a while since I've posted an update but the clinics have grown so much since June 2022, we've been able to build a consistent and expanding community of Black people receiving and offering holistic healing. It has felt so generative to be able to hold space for us, by us. We are intentionally ensuring healthcare is accessible, culturally appropriate, and that healers receive healing too.
We are deeply grateful to our contributors, thank you for supporting this journey towards repair. Here's a recap of what we've done this year, it's difficult to put impact into words but hopefully the photos also speak for themselves.
What did you accomplish during 2022? How did you use money?
July 2022
With a grant from Citizens Committee NYC, we hosted a clinic in this beautiful naturally sun lit space - Grand St. Healing Project in Williamsburg. We offered 1:1 breath work, massage, reiki, tarot, and as always plant-based food and a culminating group sound bath. Our turnout doubled from the first one, some people serendipitously came in from reading the chalkboard on the street and others through word of mouth.
September 2022
We found a new home at the Ganesha Temple in Soho. The owner Eddie, was gracious enough to let us use the space for free. It's incredibly difficult to find affordable space in NYC let alone in Soho! One form of reparations is to let Black folks use spaces for free. It really is a huge barrier to sustain a community centered culture when we don't have places to gather freely. Thank you so much to those that donated on here, your gifts helped to bring this one to life.
December 2022
This one was the most intergenerational, we had an infant and Black Panther elders come through to receive healing. It was amazing to have elders who were been doing NADA ear acupuncture in the 60s receiving it decades later. Also, we offered medicine making classes, people left with a skill and free remedies tailored to what they needed. Someone who is a repeated participant, shared their experience of previously getting medicine at the clinic that has helped her insomnia. Not only do we want people to have a sanctuary for rest and healing, we want to create a sense of autonomy, that beyond this space they still have the tools to heal themselves.
Seeing the same faces, hearing how they look forward to these clinics and asking when there will be another one, felt like we are truly cultivating a community and meeting their needs.
Thank you to the Health Equity Collective for unrestricted donation and the woman I had a short interaction with who filled the gap in funds.
What challenges did you face during 2022? What did your Collective learn? How did you change or grow?
The intention is to hold these on a monthly basis but the donations are so precarious that we end up doing one whenever we have enough funds. To be honest, each time we have a clinic I'm not sure when or how we will fund the next one. It costs at least $1,500 for each clinic but with more money we can compensate the healers more generously and offer more food.
Last year I was leading the promotion, organizing, and fundraising mostly on my own but I do want to acknowledge Earth Arts Center supporting us as a fiscal host on here, donating medicine/cushions/blankets, promoting on their Instagram, and connecting us with some of the first healers to join. Now, some of the healers who have participated and experienced the benefits, are supporting me in strategizing how we can keep this sustainable and share roles. Even participants have offered to volunteer their time during the clinics. Honestly, if it wasn't for their enthusiasm and willingness to support, I would've lost the momentum.
Although I already knew this, it affirmed the need to have ongoing support from others. I tend to get really excited about an idea and want to act on it as soon as possible. There's a slowness that comes along with cultivating a consistent collective of people to organize with. Sometimes it is difficult for people to fully support an idea without experiencing it first. I knew that if I just started doing it, the support I needed would follow and it did.
I learned to ask for help! I surrendered to the fact that I don't have to do it alone. I found that when you offer something as a gift, people start sharing their own gifts whether that's through time or tangible offerings.
What's Next?
The Health Equity Collective will be giving us more funds for the next clinic but we are still going to short by a few hundred dollars. If you can donate and/or share this page, please do! We're hoping that this year we can build the relationships needed to financially sustain this on a monthly basis. In a world that takes so much from Black people, we really need spaces to receive and be with no expectations.
