Third Root Press
The Roots of Healthcare
By Telesh Lopez, Linewaiters Gazette of the Park Slope Food Coop
Volume CC, Number 22
October 23, 2008
Third Root Community Health Center, located in Flatbush just off Cortelyou Road, is celebrating their grand opening on November 2. “We have lost the ancient traditions of healthcare and remedies within the family and community. Some communities have these traditions more intact than others, but today we see people surrendering their very own health to doctors, nurses and hospitals. That system works great for emergencies, but as far as providing long-term health for whole communities, that is where we must look toward traditions that have existed for millenia,” said Park Slope Food Coop member and Third Root herbalist and yoga teacher Jacoby Ballard.
Building on the long-standing tradition of worker-owned cooperatives, like the Park Slope Food Coop, the practitioners of Third Root collectively own and operate the business. Worker-owned cooperatives strive to be an alternative to profit-oriented businesses. “We see this structure as one answer to an abusive economy, creating security, empowerment and cooperation amongst the very people that hold the business up,” said Ballard.
Third Root provides acupuncture, massage, herbal medicine, nutritional consultations and community health workshops at sliding scale prices, and yoga classes for only $10. Many of the practitioners had been frustrated with the options available in their field, wanting to provide holistic healthcare for ALL, not just those who could afford it. “Third Root is attempting to address the financial and social barriers that often stop people from practicing yoga and accessing healthcare such as acupuncture, medical massage, herbal medicine and nutritional counseling,” said Christina Baal, one of the yoga teachers at Third Root.
Third Root’s yoga program offers the usual array of beginner, intermediate, and advanced yoga classes, while also offering classes for specific communities. “The industry that has risen around yoga, especially in the last several years, is creating a cult of celebrity around an ancient practice that should be accessible to anybody interested. We seek to serve any and all who can benefit from our services,” said Romina Rodriguez-Crosta, a yoga teacher at Third Root. Sharing in the Park Slope Food Coop’s values of equality and diversity, Third Root offers Yoga for Abundant Bodies, Yoga en Espanol, and Queer and Trans Yoga to highlight and address the needs of those communities. Yoga for Special Needs is coming in November and Yoga for Veterans and Yoga for Chronic Illness are looming on the horizon.
The area along Cortelyou Road, where Third Root is located, is gentrifying. Seeing the role that a place that offers acupuncture, massage and yoga could play in the gentrification process, Third Root is working to remain accountable to the community. It is partnering with local organizations to hold community health forums to address the needs of local residents, and setting up a community advisory board composed of longtime residents to represent the local community and advise Third Root on how to better serve them.
Like the Park Slope Food Coop, Third Root wants to maximize participation at every level, empowering people in their own healthcare. To build this capacity in Flatbush and surrounding community, Third Root offers a research library that is open during business hours, and community health workshops that began October 18. In October, the topics include Self-Defense, Whole Foods 101, Internalized Oppression, and Acrobatics and Group Movements for All. “By providing health workshops, we are empowering the community. Education is an essential part of keeping our community healthy,” Ji-Hye Choi, an acupuncturist at Third Root, says of the Saturday afternoon slots.
Julia Bennett, another acupuncturist and herbalist at Third Root, concludes, “Wellness belongs to us all and economic or social status, race, gender, gender identity or age do not exempt anyone. Our own health is ours.” To contact Third Root call 718-940-9343 or visit www.thirdroot.org.
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