Wellness Center Helps Homeless Coalition

Linda Squires' interest in helping the homeless was personal. On more than one occasion she or her colleagues discovered homeless people seeking shelter in the building that houses their Somerville, Massachusetts, wellness facility, the Amethyst Center.

"It's just heart-wrenching," Squires, a chiropractor, says. "When we talked about doing a benefit, we said we have to give the money [to help the homeless]. It just made sense."

In early November, the center hosted an open house and provided mini-treatments of massage, energy work and acupuncture, as well as blood-pressure screening, for $10. The event netted $700, which center staff combined with another $300 it had raised during a summer arts festival. The Somerville Homeless Coalition was then presented with a $1,000 donation.

Amethyst Center opened in 2003, and offers chiropractic, massage and physical therapy, naturopathic medicine, acupuncture and energy work. This is the second year it has hosted the homeless benefit.

"The event helps our practitioners get more clients and is a way to make us more visible to the community," says Squires. "It's only been great for us."