Dearest Community,

Your generosity, belief, and dedication pulled us across the finish line! ✨✨

Thank you so much for supporting the Healing Wheels Fundraiser and the Herbalista Free Clinic. We surpassed our goal, raising close to $19,000 including off-line donations!

We are both thrilled and humbled by the opportunity to continue serving the people, the plants, and the planet. And we look forward to doing it together!

? The Herbalista Crew

A couple final details…

Your Name on the Herb Bus!

We will be engraving the names of all our donors onto the hubcaps of the Herb Bus! Please click here to send the details of exactly how you would like your name to appear. [i.e. Earth Mama Remedies, Anna Banana, Anonymous…]

If we do not hear back from you by April 2nd, we will simply print the name as it appears on the list of supporters on the Healing Wheels Campaign Page.A big shout-out to Mass Collective for helping us realize this special project!

Herbalista Toolkit Access!

If you made a donation of $50 or more we are giving you access to the Toolkit for one year! We will use the email associated with your donation, unless you let us know you would like to use a different email for your log-in. Please let us know by April 2nd.

This online Toolkit is filled with a multitude of resources including customizable templates for both clinic and apothecary; how-to videos; the recipes we find most effective on the Herb Bus; and much more!

We hope you find all the tools you need to create herbal change in your community!

Tax Deductible Donations!

Your donations to the Healing Wheels Campaign are tax deductible thanks to our fiscal sponsors MPower Now!

If you donated via the Chuffed Online Campaign Website you should have automatically received your tax letter via email. Please let us know if you did not receive this and need us to resend it!

If you sent a check or cash you will be receiving your tax letter via snail mail in the next couple of weeks.

HERBALISTA HEALTH NETWORK

2015 Service Report

Building Community Through Herbalism!

This past year the Herbalista Free Clinic expanded services by adding a new member to our fleet. In January 2015, the Herb Cart hit the pavement to join the Herb Bus providing free herbal healthcare around the Atlanta area.

Together these herb-stations-on-wheels facilitated 38 clinics in 2015, serving hundreds in our local community!

Duane pushes the Herb Cart towards Woodruff Park for a Sunday Clinic alongside the Food Not Bombs Crew. May 2015

We continued to pour sweet, sweet herbal medicine, custom compounding all sorts of remedies for our patients, from teas to tinctures to oils and more! And though we are mobile, we provide regular opportunities for refills so that we can be a service folks can depend on! Over the course of 2015 we poured over 6 gallons of extract blends, 8 pounds of loose herbal blends, 1500 capsules blends, a quart of fixed oil preparations, dozens of aromatic inhalers, salves, spritzers and more!

We served at herbal first aid stations around the country. At these stations, herbalists and conventional practitioners (nurses, EMT’s, ect.) work together, providing patient focused healthcare.

The First Aid Station at the Florida Earthskills Gathering. February 2015

Joining 7Song’s Northeast School of Botanical Medicine to serve at the CALM First Aid Station at the Rainbow Gathering in Manistee National Forest, Michigan. July 2015.

The First Aid Station at the Southeast Women’s Herbal Conference in Lake Eden, North Carolina. October 2015.

This year the Bus drove nearly 10,000 miles delivering healthcare and herbal education in Atlanta and around the country. The 2015 Herbalista Expedition was the Herb Bus’ most ambitious trip yet, clocking 8,000 miles and covering over 20 states during her 2 month voyage.

Viva la Herb Bus!

At well over 200,000 miles, this little bus just keeps on going! The Catholic Worker’s Hippy Kitchen on Skid Row, Los Angeles, CA. August 2015

And while we do rely on donations from the greater community, we are always striving to create more of a self-supporting system, from seed to remedy! This past year we watched Herbalista evolve from a “free clinic” into a “health network.”

( And we’re not done yet. Stay tuned for this year’s Seed Library!)

And as usual, our programming combined service with education!

Processing Tulsi Basil, donated through the Grow A Row Program

Pay-It-Forward Medicine Making Workshop. March 22, 2015 — Creating teabag blends that will stock the free clinic at a Pay-It-Forward Medicine Making Workshops.

The Herb Cart Service Project. Woodruff Park, ATL, GA. January 2015 — Apprentices training through the Herb Cart Service Project.

Health education at the Herbalista Community Health Fair. Big House, Atlanta, GA. March 2015.

It’s hard work I tell ya! Herbalista Community Health Fair at the Big House, Atlanta, GA. June 2015

We made new friends and reconnected with old ones!

Serving alongside the Foot Not Bombs Crew at Woodruff Park. Atl, GA November 2015 — Serving alongside the Foot Not Bombs Crew at Woodruff Park. Atl, GA. November 2015

Atlanta Beltline Fruit Forage and Herb Ramble with Concrete Jungle. September 2015.

The Radical Herbalism Gathering, Shropshire, England. June 2015.

Botanizing in Michigan with 7Song's Northeast School of Botanical Medicine. — Botanizing and wildcrafting in Michigan with 7Song’s Northeast School of Botanical Medicine.

Picking Monarda in Montana with the lovely Kris of Hill Botanicals. July 2015.

Visiting the Olympia Free Clinic in Olympia, Washington. — Visiting Herbalist Renee Davis and the Olympia Free Herbal Clinic in Washington State. July 2015.

Serving with Occupy Medical in Eugene Oregon. August 2015.

Learning and serving at the Gubbio Project for the Homeless in San Francisco with Nurse Roehrick. August 2015.

The California School of Studies. — All aboard! The Herb Bus visited the California School of Herbal Studies. Forrestville, CA. August 2015.

Once again, tending the feet of our friends on the street on Skid Row. Catholic Worker's Hippy Kitchen, Los Angeles, California. — Once again, tending the feet of our friends on the street on Skid Row. Foot Care Friday’s at the Catholic Worker’s Hippy Kitchen, Los Angeles, California. August 2015.

Sitting with white sage in the mountains of southern California. — Sitting with white sage in the Laguna mountains of southern California. August 2015.

Visiting Ponderosa High School in Flagstaff, AZ, where Terra Birds is empowering youth through gardening and permaculture skills. August 2015.

We look forward to a new year filled with herbalistic adventures in healthcare…

Won’t you join us? ~The Herbalista Crew

This summer I had the pleasure of returning to volunteer at the LA Catholic Worker’s Foot Clinic. Every Friday they serve the homeless at their center on Skid Row. Lovingly called the “Hippy Kitchen” this is a center for hospitality, offering clinics and meals and more.

The LA Catholic Worker House is a sister community to our Open Door here in Atlanta. We have had a couple of opportunities to visit each other’s foot clinics and share our knowledge and trade ideas. I had such a wonderful time and hope I have the chance to return again soon!

EDIBLE & MEDICINAL PLANT RAMBLE

Saturday, May 9, 2015

2:00pm – 4:00pm

Along the Eastside Hiking Trail of the Beltline

Suggested Donation: $20 (or become a $5/mth sustainer and enjoy plant walks all year long!)

A Homestead Event – Registration Here!

The land around you is chock full of edible and medicinal plants – come discover what’s in your back yard and how to properly identify plants while enjoying a walk along Atlanta’s Beltline.

Discover the bounty spring has to forage – even in the urban landscape. Plus this workshop is by donation only, and the entirety of your contribution goes to help the underserved receive herbal healthcare via The Herb Bus.

Cost: This class is by donation only and funds go to help underserved populations receive herbal healthcare via Herbalista Community Health Network. (Suggested One-Time Donation $20. Or, donate $5 monthly to become a Sustainer and enjoy plant walks throughout the year for free!)

About the Instructor:
Lorna Mauney-Brodek is a traveling herbalist, medicine maker, wildcrafter and teacher. Much of her herbwork supports organizations dedicated to promoting diversity, environmental responsibility, and social justice. Growing up “americana,” her health practices reflect the abundantly diverse influences of these lands to blend western medical herbalism, traditional chinese five phase, ayurveda, and southern folk.

She maintains a clinical practice and apothecary in East Atlanta as The Herbalista and teaches at various venues around the southeast, including BotanoLogos, the Blue Ridge School, and The Herb Kitchen.

Become a monthly sustainer and come as our guest! Click here to support our work at the Herbalista Free Clinic.

2014 Service Report

Another year of adventures in healthcare!

In Atlanta (our herbal hub) we continued regular services at our 2 Herb Bus Stations,

conducting 148 consultations over the course of 22 clinics.

At these monthly clinical rounds, we poured endless pots of seasonal tea, dispensed 6 1/2 gallons of customized tincture formulas (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), 14#’s of raw custom herbal and powder blends, and a variety of other remedies including aromatic inhalers, herbal capsules, and oil rubs.

We served at several herbal first aid stations including:

and the Southeast Women’s Herbal Conference in North Carolina

The Bus drove over 10,000 miles delivering healthcare and herbal education around the country.

The Five Flavors Crew, Lassen National Forest, California

We shared the Herb Bus model of healthcare with classes and communities from Atlanta to California. Some of our hosts included Ponderosa High School, the California School of Herbal Studies, Sacred Plant Traditions, Five Flavors Herbs, Homestead Atlanta, and the High Museum of Art.

We expanded our efforts to make community herbalism sustainable by initiating new programs that combine service with education:

Pay-it-Forward Medicine Making: Teaching medicine making skills while we stock the Herb Bus with needed remedies.

Screen Shot 2014-12-21 at 3.52.34 PM — Grow A Row: Supply locally and sustainably grown herbs to the Herb Bus by enlisting and supporting local farmers in the cultivation of medicinal herbs. A joint project with Funny Farm Atlanta.

Screen Shot 2015-01-02 at 12.31.46 PM — Herb Cart: An Herbalista service project providing herbal first aid while offering learning opportunities for herbalists and herb students.

We made many friends and memories:

Talking buses, gift economy, and tea in Long Beach with Guisepi of the Free Tea Party Bus

Being inspired at the Radical Herbalists Gathering in Shropshire, England.

Spending time with special plants in special places. Anemone on Mount Shasta, California.

Harvesting and preparing medicine to share with my community and those in need. Arnica and Osha, Utah.

Tending the feet of our friends on the street with the Catholic Workers at Friday Foot Care on Skid Row, Los Angeles, California.

For all this and so much more, we are grateful.

We feel fortunate to have this opportunity to serve our community

and thankful for your friendship and support on this journey.

~The Herbalista Crew

Herbalista Crew (Past and Present): Lorna, Corinne, Todd, Amanda, Kaitlin, Lynda, and Anna

My sister and I took a trip to New Orleans over the winter holidays and lucky me to stumble across this gem of a museum. Now I’m already a bit of a museum buff, I like the chance to sit with things and ponder their significance in our world, so combine that with bottles and bits and herbs and potions and it’s almost too much!

Wishing you a New Year filled with peace, smiles, and candy canes

For the final clinic of the year we throw a foot fiesta at the Open Door Community. In addition to offering full foot care services and community acupuncture, we sip cider, nibble on sweets, and spin those holiday tunes– I’m talking some James Brown’s Funky Christmas and a little Motown action.

Thanks to the help and contributions of our volunteers and friends, we are also able to hand out gift bags to our friends on the street. We fill these bags with items to help keep the harsh winter at bay, such as herbal salves, cough drops, and cozy wool socks. For some photos of the final clinic of 2014, please click here.

It’s been over 8 years since I first sat down at the Open Door and had the honor of holding someone’s feet in my hands. In the tradition of counting our blessings, I feel grateful to have found the Open Door and their open hearts. They have been an inspiring force in my life. I want to thank them for their commitment to service, for their unwavering dedication to human rights, and their courageous ability to take direct action. May you all find your inspiration this New Year.

~Herbalista Lorna

Congratulations to Occupy Medical Eugene!

It was an honor to be asked to present this year’s AHG Community Service Award to this group of dedicated healthcare workers. Born of the Occupy Movement, they continue to offer practical, alternative solutions to the current medical structure that neglects the poor and denies even the affluent, access to integrative and holistic treatment options. Occupy Medical offers no-cost, high quality, integrative medical services each and every Sunday on the streets of Eugene, Oregon. They put their love and respect for humanity into action. We are humbled by their service, inspired by their vision, and well, let’s just say, we have something of bus crush.