Herbalists Without Borders: Empowering Communities with Access to Herbal and Botanical Wellness

Small Core Team Leads to Significant Action

HWB has a small core team that runs and sustains the organization. Blanco commented: “Many people believe we have a large staff diligently working behind the scenes, but HWB is run by an Executive Director and Assistant Director with a small core team of volunteers, though the organization has continued to make ongoing progress thanks to the valiant and generous work of our executive director, Denise Cusack.” Cusack's role in the organization evolved from volunteering to become the Executive Director. She explained: “I began volunteering with the core office as website coordinator in 2016 and in the summer of 2017—as the long-time Executive Director was stepping down—I applied for the volunteer position of Executive Director and took over that role in September 2017. My background in business, marketing, and nonprofit management combined with my herbalism experience, makes this role a good fit.”

Cusack stated that she has had a diverse interest in herbalism and commented: “Like many herbalists, my initial interest in herbalism began with myself and my family having health needs that caused me to research herbal medicine and healthy foods. From there, I began studying more intensely with teachers and schools that aligned with my needs, and provided me the opportunity to learn more. I continue to learn and have had clinical training in herbalism, and in addition, I have studied holistic nutrition, hydrosols, flower essences, aromatherapy, and permaculture.”

Cusack mentioned some of the significant accomplishments that have occurred during her term and said: “Foremost, HWB membership has grown by 650%. I have also started and managed micro-grant and seed-grant programs, created a member portal on the website for member resources, run a US Donation Distribution Network, and we are working to increase the benefits and support to our global members. I have continued with my management and nonprofit education over the past few years, in addition to restorative justice coursework, trauma training, disaster relief and first aid training. The more I learn the more I have to give back. Finding other volunteers to help with the day-to-day running of a global nonprofit is important as well—if we want to offer more programs or support, we have to make them—and our core HWB volunteers are so appreciated and critical to our work and the continuation of our Chapters, Clinics, and Projects.” HWB has more than 500 members. HWB Members can join or form Chapters, Clinics, or Projects, and work in their communities.

In regards to outreach, one of the biggest obstacles that HWB faces is providing financial support and resources to chapters around the globe. Blanco commented: “As a small budget nonprofit organization, we rely on donations and memberships to support those working in their communities around the globe. We have international members working to serve their communities—such as disaster relief, refugee support from Europe to Africa, response to fires and floods or hurricanes, etc. Since we do not ship supplies internationally due to customs and costs, we focus on fundraising and micro-grants to international Chapters to support their work. We also are always working to forge alliances with international businesses and organizations to support those on the ground in nations around the world, and provide more assistance and support.”

One of the most established programs in HWB today is the Community Supported Herbalism project, according to Blanco who stated: “It is important that we are able to support our members and Chapters/Projects in the most tangible way. We are currently developing a new collection of resources for our HWB Garden Project, which will consist of offering layouts for garden designs, consultations, instructions for herb or vegetable plantings, educational webinars and videos, as well as opening up access to our Seed Grant program to the public in order to aid in their efforts to create an accessible, community space for their school, community garden, or organization.”

The HWB website contains a wealth of information about programs, resources, membership, ways to get involved, etc. Specifically, the website lists locations for free/low cost/sliding scale herbal clinics, how to apply for seed grants and nourish community gardens, how to become a business sponsor or individual member and/or donate to HWB, how to become a volunteer and more. It has links to HWB newsletters and podcasts. For members, there are eGuides with information including a “How To Toolkit for Free People's Clinics”; “Starting a Nourishing Community Garden”; a “Community Apotheca eGuide” and others. The HWB member portal also offers over 1000 resources for members, and has member opportunities such as regular scholarships to online continuing education classes.

Conclusion

In terms of the future, Cusack hopes that organizations such as HWB are recognized as deserving of financial support. She stated: “We operate almost entirely on membership dues and not donations or grants. In many parts of the world, herbalism is considered “alternative,” and the work we do is not seen as important as that of other organizations or modalities. However, the World Health Organization says that 80% of the world's population still uses herbalism medicine for primary health care. Offering support, continuing education, training, resources, and assistance to those serving 80% of the world population is pretty important work. Empowering local people and local communities to take charge of their own health and wellness is powerful and important.”

Cusack said expansion is a key to success in the future as well. She said: “We have chapters and groups, but so many of us live in areas without large communities and people feel they cannot make change. By expanding our global network of members and offering more technical support and resources, we can help individuals make change on a local level, but at a global scale. Imagine how impactful that would be.”

Finally, Cusack commented: “HWB is not about saviorism, but about empowerment, which is why food justice, health justice, community education, and community outreach and partnerships are very important. Empowerment is so important in health justice, and education, knowledge-sharing, and community models entwine both health and food justice to make the greatest impact. Justice and equity are also about recognizing systems of oppression in our communities, and working to balance the system to a more equitable and accessible one, often by reinventing and innovating how those systems work.”▪