Weeks said serve anywhere from 40 to 100 people at each clinic, making for several thousand people treated each year. “As word gets out, we see more and more,” Weeks said. The organization increases its response when needed: “When the Hurricane Irene hit, for instance, we did seven weeks in a row in Phoenicia,” Weeks said.
Weeks believes that healing begins by listening, and by the practitioner giving his or her full attention to the patient — something that’s hard to find in conventional health care these days. “Paying attention, and entering into someone’s story and changing the narrative.”
Both Weeks and Rose hope the clinics expose more people to what holistic care has to offer. “I think that holistic medicine is, first of all, gentle. It can be very powerful, and that it should be part of everyone’s health care plan,” said Weeks. “I think that our medical system is a broken one at this point, and is a profit-driven system, which to me is antithetical to health care.”
“In a perfect world we would be able to have these clinics all the time,” said Rose, noting that if someone is curious but feels they’re too well off and don’t want to take up time that could be used by a person more in need, donations are always welcome. “People should come and experience and don’t be shy.”
On Sept. 15, there will be a fundraising concert for the effort at Keegan Ales; we’ll have more on that as the date approaches. For more information on the clinics and how to set up appointments, visit www.healthcareisahumanright.com.
