Kincade Fire Update: Help Bring Integrative Medicine to Fire Evacuees

Our community in Sonoma County is experiencing an unprecedented wild fire disaster. As of October 27th, 190,000 Sonoma County residents have been evacuated from their homes with over 35,000 acres burning at 11% containment. 

The fires that started on October 23rd in the Northern Sonoma County region of Geyserville has spread south down to the town of Windsor. Record high winds, up to 80 mph, are continuing to threat our region. Fires have been starting all over the state. This comes just two years after the historic Tubbs Fire devastated our community, destroying over 5,000 homes and leaving our community still coping with the effects of trauma on their physical, emotional, and mental states.

​IHAN is looking for licensed/certified integrative medicine and health practitioners with malpractice insurance and administrative support staff to volunteer at an Integrative Health Clinic have setup at an evacuation site in Petaluma. Trauma response symptoms are common among fire evacuees and can be expressed through symptoms such as physical pain, anxiety, stress, and insomnia that integrative medicine and health practitioners have many tools to offer to those in need. Those staying at Red Cross shelters are usually the most underserved members of our community, so this is an opportunity to provide healing and support to those most in need.

Below are some testimonials of how our clinic helped support evacuees in Healdsburg on October 26th:

"It’s such a beautiful thing you guys are doing. To have someone put their hands on you, it makes me feel so much more human and like I can handle spending another night in sleeping on a cot surrounded by hundreds of people. Thank you so much, I feel like myself for the first time since we got evacuated almost a week ago." - Mary Anne

"I feel much, much, much better." - José

LEARN HOW TO REGISTER TO VOLUNTEER WITH IHAN

PRACTITIONERS: Are you interested in volunteering? The Red Cross requires that only licensed/certified practitioners with malpractice insurance can volunteer inside their shelters. This includes: acupuncturists, chiropractors, naturopathic doctors, massage therapists, clinical homeopaths, integrative MDs, DOs and nurses. While we absolutely recognize the validity of other types of practitioners, we are not currently able to accommodate those without an active license/certification and malpractice insurance.

​Please click here to register to volunteer with IHAN today. 

ADMIN SUPPORT: If you are not a licensed/certified practitioner with malpractice insurance but are still interested in volunteering, we really need your help! It is preferred that admin support volunteers be moderately knowledgeable about CAM modalities so they can effectively communicate the healing services with evacuees. Admin support is essential to making this clinic a successful and sustainable operation. The Red Cross requires that all volunteers pass a background check. If you would like to volunteer as an admin, please click here to register as an EMERGENCY CLINIC CARE COORDINATOR.

We currently are at an evacuation site in Petaluma. We are looking for other locations to setup clinics. Please follow us on Facebook to get receive updates.

If you are unable to join our efforts in person but would still like to contribute, your tax-deductible donation can help support our operations and ensure we continue to bring Integrative medicine to the front lines of disaster response:
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TODAY 

Thank you for your good thoughts, prayers, volunteering, and donations during Sonoma County's unprecedented time of need. Together, we will get through this.
​Please contact us directly with any questions.

In health,

Jenny Harrow, Co-Founder/Co-Executive Director
Dr. Jen Riegle, Co-Founder/Co-Executive Director
Cynthia Mears, Director of Volunteer Services