ABOUT HERBALISTA

Building Community
through Herbalism

Since 2013, Herbalista has been providing free community herbal care and education utilizing a mobile clinic model. What started with the Herb Bus, expanded to include the Herb Cart, Dublin Herb Bike, Herb Care Stations and more.

Our community-based model of herbal care is rooted in mutual aid and inspired by plant wisdom. Solidarity Medicine Making Workshops, the Grow a Row Project, and other initiatives not only keep the apothecaries stocked and the mobile clinics rolling, but they help build local herbal infrastructure and create greater community resilience. We look forward to sharing this work with you as together, we build community through herbalism.

By the People, for the People

Herbalista recognizes healthcare as a fundamental human right. We believe that herbal and food-based therapies are foundational to human health and deserve a prominent place at the table.  

Our mission is to provide the tools, the encouragement, and the lived examples of how we can create that healthier world together. We do this by sponsoring free community health services and education, sharing our Herbalista Model of Care in person and with the greater community, via the web. We hope that through our herb work, we can empowering folks to care for themselves and their neighbors.

Herbalista welcomes students, volunteers, partners, patients, clients, guests, and friends of any race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, economic strata, ability, sexuality, and gender-orientation to join us!

We believe in diversity, not discrimination!

Several hands, palms up and fingers outstretched are surrounding a jar of fire cider ingredients.

Herbalista History

Herbalista was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, home to Dr. Martin Luther King who said, “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”

The Herbalista Free Clinic was an attempt at a different way of doing things. In 2013, wanting to get herbs directly in the hands of folks who needed them most, Lorna Mauney-Brodek kitted out the old family VW camper van and hit the road.  Nicknamed the Herb Bus, she had a vision of utilizing mobile medicine as a means of lowering overhead costs, expanding treatment capacity and unleashing creativity.

The Herb Bus scheduled regular stops around town to offer free clinical care, a spot of tea, and herbal education.  Over the years, as we refined our protocols and recipes, our services grew. We began offering other means herbcare delivery via offerings such as the Herb Cart, the Dublin Herb Bike and pop-up HerbCare Stations.

Our system of care quickly grew beyond simple clinical offerings as we recognized how important it was to work in a sustainable and collaborative manner. We developed complementary programming such as the Grow-a Row Program and Solidarity Medicine Making to support the clinics and also invest in our own local herbal infrastructure.

We have documented our work from the beginning, writing numerous manuals and other resources to share with the greater community. In keeping with one of our founding missions of demystifying herbwork and helping other herbalists offer similar services in their neck of the woods, we launched our online Toolkit in 2017 and followed that with the Herbalista Free School in 2022. 

We are appreciative of the support we have received from herbal colleagues and herbal organizations over the years, on both sides of the Atlantic.  In 2013, the Herbalista Free Clinic and Lorna were presented with a Community Service Award by the American Herbalists Guild.  And in 2021, both the Herbalista Herbal Clinic and the Dublin Herb Bike were recognized with awards for ‘Herbalism in the Community’  by the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (UK).  

This black and white photo shows the bus set up for clinic. Lorna and Amanda sit consulting a book and a visitor drinks a cup of tea. The text reads: Our first clinic Feb 6, 2013 Atlanta
This graphic shows year by year, the progression of the Herbalista Projects. It begins in 2013 and continues to 2024.

These Lands

Herbalista was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia on land that is the traditional home to the Muscogee and Cherokee peoples. They lived, traveled, and stewarded these lands until they were forcibly removed by the US government in the 1800’s. We want to acknowledge this history of genocide and also the present connection these tribes still have to their original homelands.

We acknowledge that this land is now also home to folks from all over the world, migrants who have come here for a multitude of reasons – economic or educational opportunity, to be near family, to flee violence or persecution, to escape environmental disasters… too many reasons to list them all here.

We hope that all of us who call this land home will do our best to respect her and each other. May we be good stewards and honor our connection to these lands.

Herbal Safety

Herbalista and members of our crew are not licensed medical doctors and do not diagnose disease or prescribe medicines. We are herbalists and herbal apprentices who work with our community to help folks achieve their personal health goals. Our services do not take the place of a medical doctor.  It is important to be transparent with all of your healthcare providers about the different medications and herbs you take.  

When gathering and preparing your own remedies, please be careful!  Some plants are poisonous, some can cause allergic reactions, and some plants can be  hard to properly identify.  It is important to be 100% sure what something is before you ingest it or give it to others.

This website is filled with the tools and resources we hope help you follow your herbal path.  Since healthcare can be quite complex at times, we think it is important to approach it with an open mind, while wearing our critical thinking hat.  All humans are unique and therefore what might be true for Herbalista, might not be for you. Please listen to your body and double check things for yourself.  Move slowly when trying a new herb or remedy for the first time.  Take your time and enjoy the journey!

White hawthorne blossoms with pink tipped anthers.

Herbalista GALLERY

gallery 1
Tincture bottles are set across a counter inside the Herb Bus dispensary. A hand is pouring from a measuring cup into one of the brown glass tincture bottles.
The interior of the Herb Bus apothecary with all of the herbal kits lined up along the countertop. The table is set up with the tray and clipboard. There is a milk crate on its side with a library of books.
gallery 3
Four crew members stand around the Herb Cart and smile.
gallery 2
Three crew members walking the Herb Cart across a downtown city street and carrying additional herb kits.
The Herb Bus is on the road with the Atlanta skyline behind it.
An Herbalista Crew member sits by an Herb Care Station with several pump bottles, spray bottles and bowls of ginger chews and cough drops. The sign behind the station reads, "Self-Care here, Heart Health, get your blood pressure checked."
Four people are standing holding a kit with an Herbalista Logo that says "Self-Care Station". One of the people is giving a thumbs up sign and another holds a sign that looks like a STOP sign and says "Stop Displacement."
Lorna and friend smile in front of a camper van that reads "First Aid" across the top.
The Herb Bus is set up for clinic with the top popped and the side tent erected. Under the side tent is a table where three people are sitting and talking.
Two smiling crew members stand at small table with an Herb Care Station on top. There are several pump bottles, spritzer bottles, ginger chews, and a menu sign listing the different offerings.
The top of the first aid station dispensary table is arranged with many bottles and tools as well as a bouquet of flowers.
A shot of the interior of the Herb Bus Apothecary taken from the back bench looking forward to the front of the bus. The front passenger seat is swivelled around and faces the back bench. The tables are out and the kits line the counter that runs along the left wall. The roof overhead is popped up.
Three glass mason jars filled with chopped herbs and spices in the background with a Fire Cider worksheet on the table in front.
Individually packaged and labeled remedies are lined up on a table. There are several green aromatic inhalers, rows of Defender Glycerite 1 oz bottles and Tea Bags.
A close up of two remedy pump bottles. A hand pumps from one of the bottles into a ramekin. One bottle is Solidarity Soother and the other is Immune Defender.
The Herb Cart has an Herb Care Station arranged in its baskets. There is a row of pump remedy botttles in the top basket along with a sign describing the menu items on offer. The lower basket has bowls filled with cough drops, ginger chews and other remedies.
The First Aid crew of 8 are posed in front of the dispensary table. They are each holding an herb or first aid instrument and smiling.
Lorna sits in the Herb Bus with the side door open holding a blue tincture run kit.
The Herb Cart apothecary is in the foreground. In the background are three people seated in chars on a lawn.
Load More