Fund Mission

Our goal is to empower our homeless patients by restoring their physical and mental health so that they can focus on restoring their lives. We work toward achieving this goal in the following ways:

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1. Treatment of Pain and Other Debilitating Disorders

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• Pain afflicts many in the homeless community due to their difficult living situations. This is exacerbated during the cold and rainy months in the Pacific Northwest.

• Pain affects the homeless community in many ways; not only can it prevent them from seeking and gaining employment, but it can also cause them to rely on prescription medication or illicit drugs for relief.

• Additionally, even minor illnesses, like the common cold, can be debilitating and last for months for those without shelter.

• In these cases, acupuncture and herbal medicine can be extremely effective in restoring our homeless patients' health and, by extension, their ability to improve their circumstances. 

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2. Treatment of Drug Addiction

 

• In addition to pain and other debilitating disorders, substance use disorder (SUD), particularly opioid use disorder (OUD), affects many in the homeless community.

• We seek to effect positive change by treating these patients for both SUD and the pain that may have led to it.

• For SUD, we apply our services in support of medication assisted treatment and behavioral therapy to give patients the highest probability of successfully taking their lives back.

• This will go a long way toward restoring their mental and physical health.

• We offer free treatment for SUD at several local homeless shelters (see Supporting Our Local Homeless Shelters below).

• We would also like to educate local physicians about acupuncture as an alternative to prescription pain medication.

• If you are a physician who would like to learn more, please contact us. Together, we can make a significant difference by preventing patients from becoming addicted to opioid pain medications.

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3. Supporting Our Local Homeless Shelters

 

• We serve our homeless community by working with local homeless shelters, such as The Sophia Way.

• Once a week, we offer free treatment for SUD at these shelters.

• We also offer treatment for pain and other debilitating disorders.

• Donations to our Helping the Homeless Fund help cover the costs of these treatments.

• We believe that by providing our services at these shelters, we bolster support for them. For more information, please contact us.

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How You Can Help

 

• While, ideally, we would like to offer our services to the homeless community at entirely no charge, it is simply not financially viable for us to do so long term.

• As a result, we offer free treatment for SUD; however, treatment for pain and other disorders are billed to patients' insurance.

• Your donation to our Helping the Homeless Fund will help cover cost shares for those whose insurance benefits include acupuncture treatment and the entire costs of treatment for those who don't have insurance, those whose insurance benefits do not cover acupuncture, and those who have reached their treatment limit for acupuncture.

• This allows us to continue to provide this much-needed service to members of our homeless community at no cost to them.

• Acupuncture treatments provided at homeless shelters are heavily discounted compared to those provided in our clinic.

• Additionally, your donation may also be used to cover costs of herbal medicine, healthy foods, and drug rehabilitation treatment.

• Please also consider donating to any of our local homeless shelters.

• Thank you for your compassion and generosity!