www.thirdroot.org

Part two: Affordable holistic care for anyone

Herbal medicine, nutritional consultations, acupuncture, massage therapy, community health workshops and community acupuncture services offered on a sliding scale seem unlikely. More commonly, holistic care of this nature can be found in high-end salons, spas and other centers where money is the driving force.  

Third Root Community Health Center wants to reverse the perception of holistic medicine in the United States by giving care to anyone in need.

Jacoby Ballard, co-founder, says, “We want to demonstrate that this is effective care for everyone regardless of race, class, gender, immigration status, ethnicity, ability, age, etc.”

Their goals are big, but they know to start within the community.

“On a more micro level in our community,” Ballard begins. “A goal is to address systems of oppression such as racism, sexism and homophobia through quality, accessible, empowering and collaborative care. We try to prioritize these communities through offering a sliding scale fee or community health scholarships and by offering yoga classes for specific communities.”

Third Root and its volunteers’ ambition doesn’t end there.

Ballard adds: “We have goals of how to get specific communities into our health center. There are 13 languages spoken in our neighborhood, so we want to eventually have staff that speak all those languages and have roots in those communities.”

The center wants to be a vehicle for education in holistic healthcare, giving it back to the community.

“With this, someone in each household is their own primary healthcare provider through massaging their infant child, providing herbal medicine for non-emergency healthcare needs and through using yoga to relieve stress,” Ballard says.

Third Root joins the battle for social justice by innovation.

“We are trying something new by providing a community health center that offers specific modalities while maintaining an analysis of who has been historically excluded from this care and working hard to get those same communities and individuals into our clinic.” Ballard says.

The center continues to spread its seeds, working to elevate well-being and decrease stress while providing healthcare at the same time. By prioritizing the healthcare of domestic workers, immigrants, communities of color, transgender people and differently-abled people, the center becomes a leader in social justice.

Click here to read Part one: The birth of Third Root

Click here to read about Third Root’s diversified yoga classes

Visit www.thirdroot.org for information on all their services.