Kindred Birthday and Interdependence Day Specials

Exactly two years ago, Kindred opened it’s doors and began providing sliding-scale acupuncture treatments for people in Pawtucket, Providence east side, East Providence, Central Falls, and folks all over RI and southeast Mass. On July 4th, 2017, we had our first Interdependence Day Special and offered free acupuncture to a few dozen people.

This year, we’d like to celebrate our birthday by making it easier for you to bring a loved one, family member, co-worker, friend, or neighbor, and introduce them to community acupuncture. So, between July 1st and July 7th, each time you get a treatment you can bring someone for their first treatment for free.

In addition, from now Through July, when you buy one of our multiple treatment packages, you not only get a free treatment for every five purchased, but you can also bring one guest for their first treatment for free. Buy a five pack and get a sixth treatment free for yourself AND bring a guest for free first treatment during any of your visits. Buy a 10 pack, and the perks are doubled.

Opening party. June 2017

Come during your lunch hour. Come when it’s too hot for the beach. Come when it’s too rainy to play. Come when your summer insomnia hits, or your hay fever, your hives. Come if you injure yourself playing too hard. Come because for most people summer is really not much of any kind of break, and you’re working really hard. Come when you feel disconnected, grief, rage, or confusion. Come to stop smoking or to get help getting off the pain meds. Come to pray. Come to feel good. Come together.

Kindred is hiring for two positions. Part-time acupuncturist to become full-time. And, part-time front desk person/office manager.

Kindred Community Acupuncture is looking for a LICENSED ACUPUNCTURIST who loves working in a collaborative environment, seeing a high volume of patients in a fast paced clinic that is rooted in social justice. This is a great opportunity to work in an established and busy community acupuncture clinic in Rhode Island!

Hiring now for a part-time position. Employee position begins in summer.

To be considered for employment as an acupuncturist at KCA the applicant must:

• Have an active RI acupuncture license..

• Be willing and eager to adopt the style of treatment we utilize at KCA (acupuncture only, distal point treatments required).

• Practice anti-oppression principles and believe in liberation for all people.

• Have done some reading/learning about community acupuncture and understand the basics through POCA membership, attendance at POCAFests, CA 101s, and/or working at other CA clinics.

The ideal applicant:

• Has a passion for community acupuncture, a love of people and a desire to treat large numbers of patients in a dynamic, faced paced environment.

• Is positive, friendly, caring, a clear communicator, dependable and works well independently while being part of a team.

• Able to treat patients quickly and stay focused and calm in a fast-paced environment.

• Is grounded, focused, and confident.

• Loves being very busy and you are stoked to eventually treat 6-8 patients an hour

• Does a superb job reading people and communicating with them in ways that really “speaks to them” and their needs, and facilitates them expressing their own unique goals regarding using acupuncture.

• Is comfortable working with patients speaking Spanish and other non-English languages. (WE STRONGLY PREFER A FLUENT SPANISH SPEAKER)

• Has attention to detail, cleans up, helps out, and is aware of your surroundings

• Has healthy boundaries and knows when to say ‘no’ to difficult patients

• Is comfortable with the LGBTQ community and is body positive

• Is willing, open, and able to learn established clinic systems and treatment styles.

• Has what it takes to be a part of a team:  active listening skills, clearly communicate your needs, you pitch in without having to be asked, you ask questions.

THE CLINIC:

Opened in 2017, 10 recliners, located in bustling and historic mill building at the confluence of Pawtucket and Providence’s east side. We have paid and volunteer front desk coverage. We have a well-loved and beautiful clinic that our patients depend on. We are treating approximately a hundred patients a week. We have relationships with the local healthcare and business communities. We have a very low tolerance for shenanigans, but enthusiastically support diligent work with as many benefits as we can possibly afford.

THE JOB:

Starts with 2-3 shifts per week (must be able to work nights and weekends) with potential for more. Paid training at $15/hour. Hourly rate starts at $20-25/hour DOE. Paid staff meetings. Unlimited acupuncture. Malpractice and DOH fees paid after completed evaluation period. A “boss” (punk owner) that wants to see you succeed and thrive. We work hard here, and with A LOT OF HEART. We provide an opportunity to see many diverse patients while working in a fun and supportive environment. While we value experienced punks, we are happy to train new practitioners. We do not emphasize any specific style or method beyond doing what you think is really awesome acupuncture, but not making a big deal about it. We expect our punks, after training and shadowing, to navigate our online scheduling, online chart noting, and invisible receptionist.

You will be responsible and accountable for:

• Greeting patients and establishing rapport within the first 5 minutes in a kind, welcoming manner

• Diagnosing and devising treatment plans based on a quick review of patient paperwork and short conversations with patients

• Completing 5-8 treatments/hour

• Completing follow up treatments in 10 minutes or less

• Completing new patient/initial treatments in 20 minutes or less

• Remaining aware of community treatment room and its shifting priorities

• Prompt beginning and end of treatments

• Providing patients with a wake up call at their designated time

• Charting patient notes each shift

• Communicating with colleagues as needed

After training and shadowing, we have you needle and we will evaluate your performance to determine if you would be a good fit for CAP. This evaluation is based on many factors such as patient feedback and adequately fulfilling the responsibilities outlined above.

To apply:

If you’re interested, please email Korben Perry a cover letter and current resume to kindredacupuncture@gmail.com

Kindred is now hiring a part-time front desk person for our busy and growing clinic.
We need someone who can connect warmly and quickly with each patient who comes through the door, who can hold good boundaries in terms of our clinic systems and what is expected/required from patients. You need to be detail oriented and proficient at basic computer and record keeping skills. There is an opportunity for additional hours if you have skills and interest in marketing/social media/outreach.
As providers of affordable and effective and natural health care, we want to keep figuring out ways to make our clinic a comfortable and accessible healing-home for more and more people from more and more of the communities who call this part of Rhode Island and southeast Massachusetts home. An awareness of what goes into creating welcome and holding space for a diverse population of patients is important. Do you speak or are you willing to learn Spanish? 
We are serious about how this way of providing healthcare and running a business fits into caring for the planet and eliminating oppression based on class, language, race, physical ability, mental health status, sexual orientation, age, etc. And we are serious about Kindred being a self-supporting fountain of resource for ourselves. Provide reliably effectively and be provided for.
We are not serious about many things and really like to have fun and to emphasize a warm connection with our patients and surrounding community. Our clinic systems, rooted in the crowd-sourced best practices of all POCA clinics, also allow for these kinds of connections.
Your pay is negotiable and will be based somewhat on experience. There will initially be at least two shifts available,possibly including a weekend day, and an evening.
Send inquiries to kindredacupuncture@gmail.com or call us. We look forward to talking to you.

The People's Organization of Community Acupuncture.. . . And you!

Kindred is a member of The People’s Organization of Community Acupuncture. We’d like you to be a member too. So, we’re offering unlimited ten dollar treatments through May when you sign up and become a POCA member. Here’s what it would mean for you and what it would mean for community acupuncture. And, here’s a link to sign up and learn more. Or we can help you at the clinic, of course.

Benefits Include

• · Free treatment on your birthday

• · 3 free treatments cards to share with others, good at POCA clinics worldwide

• · Waived new patient fees at POCA clinics worldwide

• · Opportunities to volunteer, vote and discuss all things community acupuncture

• · Monthly e-newsletter Sticking Together

Your Membership Supports

• · Micro-loans to open and support more clinics like ours

• · Affordable acupuncture school and continuing education

• · Work on legislative change to encourage and support

• community acupuncture

• · A working model for sustainable, ethical, affordable community healthcare practice

The mission of the People’s Organization of Community Acupuncture (POCA) is to work cooperatively to increase accessibility to and availability of affordable group acupuncture treatments. 

Black Panthers: Healthcare, acupuncture and community self-reliance.

Here’s a very short documentary about the Black Panthers and their efforts to construct real systems of care under extreme economic and social oppression. Their revolutionary healthcare initiative included providing acupuncture into the first widespread use in the U.S. outside more insular east Asian communities.

Guns, berets and leather jackets are what many folks typically associate with the Black Panther Party. But the Black Panthers were instrumental in bringing healthcare to neglected communities.

Moving Through Grief Workshop @Kindred

Led by Lauren Fiske

Loss and grief are difficult topics to talk about, nevermind sit with. Join Lauren Fiske, yoga and mindfulness instructor, health educator + wellbeing advocate, to carve out much needed space to just be and move through whatever grief you may be carrying - exactly as you are. Our morning together includes a brief teaching on grief and loss, a nurturing yoga class designed to gently support a grieving heart, mind and body; and plenty of time to reflect, restore and connect within a safe space of people who get it. 

While this workshop is intended for individuals grieving the illness or death of a loved one, this space is for you. Whether you are smack dab in the middle of a loss or you experienced one a decade ago, you're welcome here. Whether you are a beginner or advanced yogi, come join us.

Here’s the eventbrite link to sign up.

$40.00

Cost is a barrier for me. What financial help is available?

We get it. We do not want cost to be a barrier to your participation. We have a limited number of contribute-what-you-can spaces. Please contact lauren@griefreliefyoga.org for assistance.

FAQs

What will I gain?

You will leave the training with practical strategies to cultivate comfort + steadiness amidst times of change and loss; grief support resources; a circle of others who are on a similar path; and hopefully, a deep sense of relaxation, compassion, and relief.

What should I bring?

• your yoga mat

• any yoga props you love! (bolsters + blankets will be provided)

• journal + writing tool

• water bottle

• optional: item of significance to use as a visual anchor during meditation (Most folks bring a photo of their loved one, an object from nature, or any small item that is a source of meaning or inspiration.) 
  

What should I wear?
You will want to wear clothes that you feel comfortable in. I recommend bringing a cozy long sleeve sweater and socks to layer up with when we finish our movement practice and find stillness in meditation.

How is this different from a typical yoga class?

Years of research went into the creation of the curriculum that contains this workshop. It is delivered by an experienced, registered yoga teacher who has specific training in trauma sensitive yoga, grief support group facilitation, mental health, peace education, and violence prevention and response. The poses are hand-picked to support grieving bodies, minds, and hearts. Through the skillful integration of trauma-sensitive yoga, education on grief and loss, and expressive arts- we seek to break the silence and stigma on death, dying, grief, and loss. Our mission is to create a community of active grief support.

Is this a support group?

No. While we hope that you find a supportive + healing environment- this is not a support group or a substitute for therapy. Referrals and resources are available for those who are looking for more structured, individualized mental health support.

Cost is a barrier for me. What financial help is available?

We get it. We do not want cost to be a barrier to your participation. We have a limited number of contribute-what-you-can spaces. Please contact lauren@griefreliefyoga.org for assistance.

Kindred in the News

The great local, East Side Monthly did a nice piece on us in the November, 2018 edition available on line or in print. http://eastsidemonthly.com/stories/good-points,29154? Can’t get hyperlink to work, so you’ll have to cut and paste. And, just to clarify something from the third paragraph, the private room is for intakes not treatments. We just do community acupuncture.

Kindred One Year Anniversary. Closed Sunday, July first.

We've seen four seasons now, and return to the warm days when we opened. Gayle and I are so grateful to get to be part of your lives and for all you've done to push us along to keep tending to caring/accessible acupuncture.
For our anniversary, we want to scatter some more seeds of growth out there by making between 50 and hundred free txs available to employees of local businesses and organizations working for the greater good in RI. Will you be an ambassador for us? With whom could you share a few Kindred Birthday Free Treatment vouchers? If you work in a business local to us (Pawtucket, Mt Hope, etc.) or in a nonprofit, coop, or collective working for social and economic and environmental justice, food and health access, or education, call or email us so we don't forget about you. 

Get your POCA Membership now

          Kindred is participating in the POCA May Membership Drive. What is POCA you might ask? POCA stands for the People's Organization of Community Acupuncture, without which we wouldn't be able to do the work we are doing.

           POCA's mission is to “Work cooperatively to increase accessibility to and availability of affordable group acupuncture treatments”.  POCA includes both patients and punk, we support each other to successfully practice in a community setting so many more wonderful patients like you can receive acupuncture.

            The membership drive is important because funds go directly to microloans for new community acupuncture clinics and support POCA's acupuncture school, POCA Technical Institute. Microloans mean new clinics in areas where currently there are none. These projects are so important to me because I want your dear Aunt Sally and Cousin Raj to benefit from acupuncture too! And in order for there to be more clinics, we need more punks! A typical acupuncture education leaves students $60,000-$200,000 debt, making it challenging for recent graduates to start and run a clinic. Additionally, working in a community clinic requires extra skill sets that our school specifically focuses on. Our school provides an affordable alternative that trains acupuncturists to best meet their community's diverse needs.

            Memberships are on a sliding scale from $25-100, just like our treatments the membership is the same no matter what you pay, we appreciate the contribution that you give. To sign up for a membership go to the sign-up page on the poca website, or just come in and we'll walk you through it at the clinic.

            The membership can pay for itself in a few treatments, because as a thank you for signing up, membership includes a free treatment on your birthday, three “free treatment” coupons to share with friends and family, and all first-visit fees are waived at any POCA Clinic, anywhere in the world.

            We are creating jobs, creating community, and creating a healthier future for everyone. We hope you will join us in this endeavor. If you have any questions please check out POCA's vision statement, or for goodness sakes, come in and talk with Gayle and I.

Spring Specials

Now through the month of April at Kindred, every man who comes in for his first treatment will receive a free voucher for his second treatment or to be shared with another man. We want to see you, guys. ACUPUNCTURE WORKS! Come for the nap, come for the laugh or to cry, come to listen to heavy metal on your headphones or to read a book, come with curiosity. Stay for the improved sleep, a pain free back, less irritability, an end to your headache, a boosted immune system. 

We are still offering two-for-one specials on Fridays. An existing patient can bring a new patient for a first treatment, free of charge! A great opportunity to share acupuncture with friends, family, and loved ones.

Pre-paid treatment packs are available at a reduced rate. Buy a 5 pack at our sliding scale price per treatment and get one treatment free. Buy a 10 pack and get 2 treatments free.

Team Tune-ups. Feel Better Together

We are now offering: "Team Tune-ups"! A chance for your workplace, company, or organization to rejuvenate your team by doing some self-care together! We're offering discounted group rates for teams who book a Team Tune-up in advance! Call or message us for more details.

One of the things we love about community acupuncture is the part where many people get to rest/turn off together. It's such a powerful wedge against all the stress producing parts of our culture/economy; and, it's not a small part of the healing that happens with a community acupuncture treatment. 

We really want to see you and your group, be it a small activist organization, a hard working nonprofit, or a larger corporate entity; and, we will work with your budget so that you can make this happen for your group.