2019 CIIP Program Book CIIP Booklet 2019 | Page 29

Community Partner: Joy Wellness Center
Intern: Hilena Gebre
Site Supervisor: Tracy Holcomb
What is the Joy Wellness Center?
At Joy Wellness Center (JWC), we offer programming in four areas to respond to these needs:
Movement Education, Healing Arts, Stress Reduction, Nutrition Education. Classes include
yoga, mindfulness-based stress reduction, breathing, nutrition, walking, smoking cessation,
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.
Spending time at the Joy Wellness Center this summer has been restorative, in more ways
than one. The term “restorative” has an interesting connotation. To restore something is to re-
turn it to an original condition, implying that its current state is less than ideal. Here, I choose
to use the term in a slightly different light; here, a restorative experience is one that trans-
forms the current state of something, mending any existing gaps and enhancing the beauty
that is already there.
My sense of belonging and connection to my local community has been restored by my daily
engagement with Joy Wellness’ community members—the laughs we share, stories we tell,
and moments we experience are always brightening and encouraging. This sense of belong-
ing is a testament to the overwhelming warmth of the clients that cultivate the atmosphere of
love and healing. My confidence in holistic remedies and treatments has been restored, along
with my passion for encouraging and learning about healthy lifestyle changes to supplement
medical treatment—I constantly witness the glowing smiles of community members as they
relay their personal testimonies in casual conversation. And lastly, the tenuous relationship
between uninsured community members and the healthcare system is being restored day by
day, as the Joy Wellness Center makes conscious efforts to diminish their feelings of invisibil-
ity in the eyes of healthcare providing institutions—and this is the most important restoration
of them all.
While it is great that I feel so overwhelmingly part of the community, it is arguably even more
significant that the clients do as well; and this is the real magic of the Joy Wellness Center.
With nonprofits like the Joy Wellness Center, patients (especially those who are uninsured) are
reminded of their worthiness and their belonging, and they are able to seek what they need
to take care of themselves. Contributing to this, in whatever capacity that I could, has truly
made the experience worthwhile.
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• Presented to high school students
from Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts
Academy on the social determinants
of health in our local community,
including food security, health care ac-
cess, economic stability, safe housing,
and education
• Helped run the Life Balance/Weight
Management workshop post core
session
• Performed administrative tasks such
as handling front desk operations,
engaging with community members
in person and over the phone/sched-
uling appointments, and chatting with
interested visitors about all of Joy
Wellness’s services
• Nurtured and maintained the com-
munity garden through daily watering
and planting; harvested the fresh
produce to distribute to community
members
• Designed and distributed flyers about
Joy Wellness’s donation-based classes
and private services, such as Diabetes
Self-Management Education, Integra-
tive Health Coaching, Mindful Living
with Diabetes, and more