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

The Herb Cart is a service project of the Herbalista Free Clinic. We provide free, herbal first aid to communities in need around the Atlanta area, such as serving alongside the Food Not Bombs Crew, working with the Open Door Community, and supporting events such as the Herbalista Community Health Fair.

The Herb Cart Program also serves as a clinical training opportunity for new herbalists looking to expand their skills. If you have been looking for a way to put your herbal knowledge to work, if you are looking for a chance to serve your community, then here is a chance to do BOTH!!

We have scheduled two weekend training sessions for the Herb Cart in 2016. Please see the website for complete details:
www.Herbalista.org

Each fall I load up the bus and drive to the North Carolina mountains. Destination: the Southeast Women’s Herbal Conference! This annual gathering of women and children is now in it’s 11th year! I am honored to facilitate the Herbal First Aid Station and hold a safe space for our gatherers.

It takes a crew and this year we were lucky to have 6 herbalists and 2 EMT’s providing around the clock care. Next year’s gathering will be October 14th – 16th… hope to see you there!

And we’re home! Once again, our sweet lil’ Herb Bus took this Herbalista safely around the country and back. This year’s expedition ended up covering 8,000 miles of Americana. 8,000 miles of changing circumstance. 8,000 miles of lush forests and scorching drought. 8,000 miles of dilemmas and discovery, scarcity and opportunity, of pain and of healing. It was 8,000 miles to share and to learn. 8,000 miles to think and 8,000 miles to dream.

I thank everyone who gave me this chance. Much appreciation to the clinics and practitioners who hosted me, love to the friends and family who shared my journey, and gratitude to the mighty crew who held it down in the ATL and made it all possible.

And the crew I speak of is larger than Herbalista. It is larger than the Big House or the Open Door Community. Our crew rolls deep. We may not always know each other, but we are headed in the same direction. We may not have realized we had each other’s backs, but we defend the same rights and stand by the same ideals.

A big shout-out to the urban agrarians; the homesteaders and humanitarians; the craftsmen and caretakers; the teachers and radicals; the permaculturalists and pacifists; the wellness warriors and earth champions. Thank you friends of the field, the forest, the street, and the subway. May we continue to rally together, for health and community!

Herbally yours,
~ Lorna

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!

Still buzzing from the Radical Herbalism Gathering in England, I have packed up the Bus and now begin a 2 month expedition around this wild and wondrous county. I will be visiting and serving in free clinics and foot clinics along the way and look forward to sharing my adventures with all of you.

~With Love, Lorna

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.

Now available for your downloading pleasure!

The Herb Cart Service Manual is a ‘how-to’ manual, designed to help others get their grassroots healthcare projects off of the ground. The Herb Cart is a mini-mobile herbal care station that provides earth-based care to underserved communities in the Atlanta area. In this manual, we provide detail on how we stock and staff the cart, share example forms, checklists, dispensing considerations, and more. It is a work-in-progress, and we will be updating the manual as our project grows and evolves.

Viva la Herb Cart!

~Herbalista Lorna

March 25th, from 11am – 4pm

at the Big House on Ponce

368 Ponce de Leon, Atlanta, GA 30308

Please join us at the Big House each month for access to an array of health services, including Herbal Therapy, Yoga, Reflexology, and more. Services are on a first come, first serve basis, but while you wait your turn, please take part in the free health education classes we will have running throughout the day or take the opportunity to make new friends.

Receive what you need, give as you are able.

All Services from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm:

Herbal Aide

Reflexology

Endless pots of Herbal Tea

Referral and Resource Services

Bonfire Circle

Open Class Schedule:

11:00 – 11:45 – TBA

12:00 – 12:45 – Common Herbs with Gretchen

1:00 – 1:45 – TBA

2:00 – 2:45 – Kitchen Nutrition

3:00 – 3:30 – TBA

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

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