Community Project Gives Gift
of Wellness
Vashon, Washington, an island in Puget Sound
17 miles south of Seattle, is accessible only by ferry. Isolation
from the mainland brings people together, and in this tight-knit
community of just under 11,000 people, neighbors help each other
during times of need. “There are always fundraisers going
on,” says Kim Curry, a massage therapist who has lived on
the island for seven years.
This community spirit convinced Curry and colleague
Diane Hillaire to launch Vashon Community Wellness Project, an innovative
program to provide low-income residents with health-and-wellness
services and products at a fraction of the cost, paid for, instead,
in volunteer hours.
“We wanted to do something to connect people
with wellness services who couldn’t afford to get them,”
Curry explains. “Time is something people have as opposed
to money.”
Project recipients must meet economic guidelines
of earning less than $19,000 net per year as an individual, or less
than $25,000 for a family. By volunteering for three hours in one
of 92 volunteer positions, they receive a stamp that allows them
to receive wellness goods or services at a steep discount, sometimes
up to 50 percent off the standard rates. Recipients can earn up
to two stamps per month.
About 25 service providers and business owners
have signed on to the project, representing the areas of medical
care, acupuncture, childcare, coaching, exercise, midwifery, organic
foods and health-care products, nutrition, massage therapy, yoga
and more.
Although Vashon Island is considered a desirable
residential location, Curry says there is also a sizable population
of uninsured laborers and self-employed people who can’t afford
to pay-out-of-pocket for complementary therapies and other wellness
services.
“[For these residents] the idea of going
to an alternative-health-care practitioner, or any health-care practitioner
for preventive care, is out of the realm of possibility,”
she says.
“This project is also an opportunity to
educate people about what kinds of wellness-support services are
out there,” she adds. “We are working to create healthy
individuals as well as to help the community.”
The project, which has received $500 in funding
from a local sustainability organization, is slated to run until
March 1. At that point its organizers will evaluate its effectiveness
and see what needs to be changed. “We’re a work in progress,”
says Curry.
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