Team Spotlight: Wellness Team

Each month, we will be featuring a different Bainbridge Prepares team so you can get to know them and their mission. We first focus on the Wellness Team, which is lead by Colleen Huck and Susan James.MissionThe team, comprised of thirty volunteers, was created "to help foster a healthy mind/body/spirit and positive state of well-being in community members and first responders most severely affected by an island-wide disaster." The team will provide treatment services at Disaster Hubs after a catastrophic event.PreparationTo stay prepared, the volunteers meet regularly, and the team stays in regular communication with the Disaster Hubs Team and the Psychological First Aid (PFA) Team. Teammates assembled a kit of essential tools to use at each Hub as well as written materials that could be helpful for first responders and community members during an emergency.Volunteers are required to be certified in a wellness specialty and to have completed Psychological First Aid training and Hubs training (offered by BP). Team practitioners include chiropractors, massage therapists, naturopaths, homeopaths, aromatherapists, nutritionists, yoga teachers, health coaches, midwives, doulas, lactation consultants, meditation guides, nature guides, energy healers, social workers, and others who focus on holistic health care.Accomplishments and ObjectivesThe Wellness Team has already achieved a great deal, volunteering at the COVID vaccine clinics, recording wellness videos, creating information sheets on wellness, and working with the Disaster Hubs Team to secure spaces at the three active hubs for mothers, infants, and others who might need wellness services. In addition, the team presented a Wellness talk for Raising Resilience (the island nonprofit dedicated to parenting education, resources, and connections) and taught an emergency childbirth class to first responders.What's up next? The Wellness Team is preparing materials on wildfire smoke detox for upcoming wildfire awareness events. They are focused on assigning members to serve at the Disaster Hubs and want to participate in a Hub practice run-through. In addition, they continue to offer trainings for team members, are developing written protocols for wellness volunteers at the Hubs, and are assembling emergency car kits for team members so they can always be ready to help. They hope to continue their collaboration with other BP teams, such as the Disaster Hubs Team to establish how to provide wellness services to the community and the Food Resilience Team to consider wellness and nutrition during a disaster and to ensure nutritional care during an emergency for vulnerable pregnant and nursing mothers and infants.VolunteersThe Wellness Team welcomes any volunteers interested in wellness who have a professional background. Volunteers can serve on the Wellness and the Medical Reserve Corps teams at the same time. James and Huck are also looking for volunteers who might want to join them in team leadership. Interested? Contact the leads here.Featured photo shows Susan James (left) and Colleen Huck.