2018 CIIP Program Book CIIP Booklet 2018 | Page 33

Community Partner: Joy Wellness Center
Intern: Grace Windheim
Site Supervisor: Tracy Holcomb
What is Joy Welllness Center?
At Joy Wellness Center (JWC), we offer programming in
four areas to respond to these needs: Movement Educa-
tion, Healing Arts, Stress Reduction, and Nutrition Edu-
cation. Classes include yoga, mindfulness-based stress
reduction, breathing, nutrition, walking, smoking cessa-
tion, massage, meditation, acupuncture, and reflexology.
All programs and therapies are designed specifically to
create transformative, healthy, life-affirming changes in
the lives of our patients.
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One of the most important lessons I learned this summer was the value of commu-
nity. I have come to see that the Joy Wellness Center is not just a yoga studio, or
a nutritionist’s office: it is a community center. Feeling like part of a community and
having people to share with and relate to is one of the major aspects of health and
life fulfillment that is often a side note in discussions of health, even in my major of
public health. Here at the Center, the participants become a friend group in almost
all the classes I’ve seen. They’ll come an hour early and stay late talking to the other
people in the class, sharing stories and advice, gossiping, and empathizing with one
another. These organically-created support networks are powerful in helping people
achieve health, and I heard many stories from participants of the different classes at
the Center about how their life has changed as a result, from finally quitting smok-
ing to losing tons of weight (one woman lost 150 pounds after participating in the
weight management workshop this past year!).
I’m also coming out of this internship further convinced of the power of holistic
health modalities. The impact of one meditation class or group discussion on bal-
ancing your life may not be immediately visible, and many would not say that after
one yoga class you’ve helped save someone’s life in the same way that a success-
ful heart surgery can. Realizing this can be discouraging for people who are pas-
sionate about these modalities, and in the short term I’ve found myself questioning
the meaning in health education work. After all, we live moment to moment, and it
can be easy to lose the larger picture of how our efforts are making a difference. By
interning at the Joy Wellness Center, though, I’ve seen that the benefits are boun-
tiful in the long term. There’s a sign in Waverly that I passed everyday on my way
to work that says “Slow is Beautiful.” In a world that increasingly places value on
speed, productivity, and delivering, it sometimes feels wrong to embrace the slow
processes of life and the fact that things take time. I think we need to embrace that
all the more, especially in the healthcare realm. True health is slow; it is the collec-
tive of the small actions we commit to every day.
Maintained the organic garden, including watering, weeding, planting, harvesting and docu-
menting the process through film and photos
Performed administrative tasks - manning the front desk, engaging with visitors over the phone
and in person, and preparing and helping run integrative health classes
Designe d marketing and educational resources, including a shareable calendar/spreadsheet
database of free events around Baltimore and posters advertising the Center, its classes, and
the garden
Presented to high schoolers on food access and public health
Worked on outreach projects for the Farm Alliance of Baltimore
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