Sacramento, California – May 24, 2018 – Sacramento Native American Health Center (SNAHC) is launching its Healing Ways services which will integrate Native-based services in the health center and engage the community to live healthy through tribal practices. Beginning in June, SNAHC will offer appointments with a Healing Ways Practitioner, Sage LaPena (Nomtipom Wintu). Ms. LaPena is a Clinical Herbalist and Ethnobotanist and has specialized in both Native American and western herbal traditions for over 25 years. Traditional medicine is the form of healing that is used to address illness or imbalance affecting the mind, body and spirit. The Healing Ways Practitioner is an expert in plant medicine and uses phytotherapy (herbal medicine) to improve clients’ health or help alleviate illness through the healing properties of plants and other cultural practices.
To complement the new service line, SNAHC has committed to additional Healing Ways programming in the community. SNAHC is one of 14 Urban Indian Organizations to receive the Tribal Practices for Wellness in Indian Country grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The three-year grant supports tribal practices that build resiliency and connections to community, family, and culture, which over time, can reduce risk factors for chronic disease among American Indians and Alaska Natives. Activities to be implemented over the next few months include traditional medicine classes, field trips and harvesting, monthly meals with healthy traditional food, community-based events, and Elder-Youth educational workshops.
The Healing Ways services are a commitment of SNAHC’s Board of Directors and Executive Leadership, and are part of its 2018 Strategic Plan. “The SNAHC Board of Directors and leadership are committed to our Native patients. Offering additional services to support their health and wellness is a priority,” said Mary Tarango, Board Chair, “With the Tribal Practices for Wellness in Indian Country funding from the CDC, our goal will be to identify best practices in caring for our people by bridging together western medicine and traditional knowledge.”
For more information, please contact Danielle Jackson, Development Director, at Danielle.Jackson@snahc.org.
