Willimantic, Now and Then:
We might call ourselves “Friends of Health and Wellness.” On the other hand, some of us like “Threads of Health and Wellness,” because of the geographic reference to Thread City.
We all agree that, whatever we end up calling ourselves, we are part of something revolutionary. A co-operative health care network started from the grassroots up.
Another thing I think we all might agree on is that we are part of Willimantic’s “Do-It-Yourself” culture.
I first heard these words – “Willimantic is a ‘Do-It-Yourself’ town” – from our good friends Denise and Reiney, owners of the former Rasminko Books and Espresso. They meant that anything can happen in Willimantic, but YOU have to make it happen.
And it’s happening again, I am proud to say. Sometimes, there is no waiting around for the government, or the Democrats, or anyone else to come to the rescue. We are going to do it ourselves. Or at least give it a try.
It all started, as so many things in my life do, from conversations at the Wrench in the Works, a radical lending library, info shop and performance space at 861 main Street, Willimantic.
Area Group works on Health Care Coop
By Mark Svetz
In this case, Linda Weiss of Chaplin, took the conversations one step further with what I think was a fateful e-mail a month or so ago.
“Come and discuss the idea of starting a health care co-op in our area,” Weiss wrote back in October.
Isn’t it something how the simplest words can change your world. Since Linda’s words went out in Late October, we have had two meetings. More than 30 people showed up for that first meeting. We are now planning the first in what we believe will be a monthly series of Health and Wellness Presentations.
This presentation will take place at the Wrench at the Works, 861 Main St., Willimantic. It will be called “Moving Through the Holiday Season with Joy and Grace.”
Fran Storch, a Naturopathic Physician from Storrs, will lead a lively discussion about stress and issues that come up for people around the holidays. Marge Schneider will play Native American flute, and Marian Vitali will lead participants in meditation.
The thrust of this presentation is helping participants find resources, within themselves and out in the community, to regain or maintain good health. During the December presentation, the topic will be holiday stress and stress in general. Participants can expect to find ways to avoid or reduce the stress in their lives during the holidays and beyond.
Weiss likes the idea of workshops or “skill shares,” where people learn about ways of healing themselves and maintaining good health. In any community there is a great deal of knowledge about health and wellness. The thing missing for many of us involved, is access to these skills when we need them.
It seemed to us that the first step could be to start building a network through which these skills can be shared in our community. This series of monthly presentations will, we hope, begin to build that network.
It is hoped that, in the future, some practitioners can offer treatment in a non-traditional setting that might make acupuncture, naturopathy, chiropractic, or various types of therapeutic massage more affordable.
The presentations beginning in December are really the first step in a plan to bring affordable health care to interested people in the greater Willimantic area. As a group we are looking at other models such as the Ithaca health Alliance.
In Ithaca, NY, a group of people formed a health care cooperative 10 years ago, which now offers many services, including a revolving fund from which members can borrow money to pay medical bills, a free clinic where anyone in the community can receive medical care, educational programs along the lines of the presentations at the Wrench, and negotiated discounts for members from various health care practitioners.
For more information about the Ithaca Health Alliance you can find their website at www.ithacahealth.org.
At the first meeting of the Willimantic area group, many possibilities were talked about, ranging from more or less traditional group health insurance plans to the more “do-it-yourself” models. We decided to start with what we could get up and running right now. With that in mind, the series of health presentations was discussed and we chose from among the skills and interests of those present.
In the near future, we will talk to other practitioners – acupuncturists, chiropractors, massage therapists or naturopaths – to bring other topics and health services to our members and the larger community.
Among other possibilities, the group will investigate negotiating lower prices at Windham Hospital or larger medical practices. According to research that several people involved in the group have done, insurance companies negotiate prices with hospitals. It is one of the unfair characteristics of our system that insurance companies pay less for medical procedures than uninsured patients.
It is hoped that members of this area health co-operative might realize savings on medical treatment in this way. This might prove a financial incentive to pay annual dues, setting up a revolving fund similar to the Ithaca Health Alliance. One hundred members, paying a modest $100 a year, would create a $10,000 annual fund.
This fund can be used to make loans to members to cover emergency medical treatment, in a variation on the major medical insurance theme.
But that’s in the future. And we all know there’s no telling what might happen in the future.
Right now, we are all caught up in the possibility of this co-op. The reality of the moment is that we have undertaken this series of health symposia as a vehicle to take our creative energy to a place where something truly revolutionary might happen.
It has a nice feeling to it, this group of people who are determined to take responsibility for our own health and happiness. We will continue to meet and plan the December presentation and future presentations. Check out the Wrench in the Works web site (wrenchintheworks.org) and calendar where the planning meetings and events are listed.
It is really early in the organization of this “health co-operative,” for lack of a better word. This means that it can take any shape enough people want it to take. I urge anyone who has an interest and an idea, to come to a meeting. It’s a great time to be part of something big.
Mark Svetz and Sarah Winter own Clothworks, a shop on Church Street in Downtown Willimantic, where they make and sell clothing and bags. Stop in and ask about the health Co-op!
WILLIMANTIC –December, 2007
