REVOLUTION UPDATE - BY LISA

Working Class Acupuncture has a lot to celebrate this May Day! Many of you know that our clinic started in April of 2002 as “Window of the Sky” (that happens to be the name for a set of acupuncture points that we liked) seeing 12, count them 12, patients a week. In April of 2008, our clinic hit a new high with 431 patient visits in one week! That’s 3591% growth in six years. And we got there because of you! Not only that, we estimate that there are at least 100 clinics around the country (and a few more internationally) that have adopted our business model and our goal of making acupuncture treatments accessible to people with ordinary incomes. None of those clinics are as big as we are (yet) but still, this means that thousands of people are getting acupuncture who normally would not be able to afford it: grocery workers, food servers, construction workers, nurses, childcare workers, self-employed people, retired people, students, single parents, and all kinds of other folks who deserve to have choices about their health care.

HAPPY MAY DAY!

Acupuncture belongs (again) to the people who need it.

WHAT IS THE COMMUNITY ACUPUNCTURE NETWORK (CAN)? (And why do they call WCA “the mothership”?)

In 2005, we started getting lots of inquiries from other acupuncturists who were interested in our business model and concerned that too few people could afford their services. We realized we could spend the rest of our lives answering emails if we didn’t do something, and we also realized that a lot of our wonderful patients have friends and family around the country who need acupuncture too. So we started the Community Acupuncture Network, a nonprofit organization committed to making acupuncture more affordable and accessible.

Check out our new map on the wall with business cards of acupuncture clinics that felt inspired by us to lower their prices -- and pass the information along to people you know! You can also visit CAN online at www.communityacupuncturenetwork.org

And if you’ve seen wide-eyed acupuncturists gawking at our five foot red fist outside, hanging around our front desk murmuring about “the mothership”, and harassing us (and you) with questions, now you know why. You are such wonderful patients and supporters that people make pilgrimages to see you with their own eyes.

INTERNATIONAL WORKERS DAY

May Day has become an international celebration of the social and economic achievements of the working class and labor movement. Here at Working Class Acupuncture, we want to celebrate the fabulous community created by patients, practitioners, staff, volunteers, neighbors and friends of this clinic…and of this movement for affordable, accessible acupuncture.

TAKE BACK ACUPUNCTURE FOR THE WORKING CLASS

MAY DAY HAPPENINGS AT WORKING CLASS ACUPUNCTURE

• FREE ACUPUNCTURE FOR ALL! All day on Thursday, May 1st, 2008, we will be open for free acupuncture treatments for you, your family and your friends. This is the day to share the clinic, the acupuncture (but not your chair!) with people you bring with you.
• NEW “HARPO ROOM” OPENING AT WCA Get a sneak peek, or even a treatment, in the “old yoga room”, now called the Harpo Room….. opening for the first time on May 1st. Our rooms will all have names now….come by and be one of the first to know what there are (and why)!
• WCA - COMMUNITY RESOURCE GUIDE Be the first to get a glimpse at the beginnings of what we hope is an on-going project to support our community of patients, neighbors and friends. A collection of resources (business, services and more) is now available. Support your fellow workers!
• GRAB A MUG & TAKE A BREAK Whether you fill it with coffee or tea, these mugs will work to keep your drink warm. FREE to you on the 1st!
• SHOP, COOK & EAT-CHEAP AND HEALTHY Our first stab at an easy, affordable meal plan if you are hungry, don’t have a lot of time or money to spend on eating out. Good tasting and good for you and your wallet. Hopefully, the first in a seasonal series….

THANK YOU!

Thanks to the many volunteers that are helping us in a variety of ways: increasing the number of patients that can be seen each day, supporting our staff and keeping the revolution rolling along…. Yona Ballin, Katherine Ann D’Amico, Terry Egan, Kathy Elijah, James Fabish, Thomas Gage, Erin Hunt, Nhan Le, Betsy Loncar, Carolyn Peck, Renee Webster, Seth Wood With Love from the WCA staff: Lisa, Skip, Lupine, Jasmine, Moses, Matt, John, Christine, Ilse, Sandy, Connie and Gabe ((If you are interested in volunteering for WCA, please let our front desk staff know!))