As Integrative Touch reaches a 20-year milestone, the local nonprofit is creating a whole new model for community care in Tucson and supporters are throwing a gala to celebrate.
The 20th Anniversary Celebration Butterfly Gala will be held at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8 at El Conquistador Tucson — A Hilton Resort, 10000 N. Oracle Road.
Proceeds will support Integrative Touch programs and services, including the Integrative Touch Healing Center at 7493 N. Oracle Rd., Suite 103.
The center, which is open to the public, offers online and in-person classes, healing therapies, personalized holistic treatments and workshops to people on-site and around the world. Offerings include more than 30 different treatments ranging from massage and bodywork to acupuncture and cranio-sacral therapy to Ayurvedic and energy treatments and much more. It also offers counseling and therapy services and mental health support.
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“This is a first-of-its-kind center and really a unique model, so it takes time for people to discover the many aspects it offers. As people realize the power of these interventions, they tell others and the center is growing month after month. We are creating this design of a new community healing center that can expand to other cities and even nationally,” said Shay Beider, founder and CEO of Integrative Touch.
Beider said the center utilizes a “Heal It Forward” model to help provide access to the array of services, which are open to people of all ages — from pediatric to geriatric — experiencing illness or trauma. The model allows those who pay market price for services to contribute to a scholarship fund so those in financial need receive services at reduced prices or no cost.
“It has been the essence of our model to support those who can’t afford these services. The Western medical system is designed to address acute care and it has stretched itself to address chronic care, but there are many gaps, and Integrative Touch provides a network of healing and support to fill those,” Beider said.
She is gratified by the two-decade evolution of the nonprofit, which originated as Integrative Touch for Kids programs that offered weeklong and weekend retreats for families of children facing medical challenges.
Like those programs, the healing center caters not only to patients, but also to families and caregivers with the ultimate goal of alleviating pain and isolation through whole community care and connection.
“What I am seeing is that people have the opportunity to come regularly to the Healing Center and they understand it is a true service model ... our center is also a place for people who are taking care of their loved ones to come and take care of themselves and get the support they truly need,” Beider said.
A core aspect of the service model is the force of volunteers who help power the organization, providing support with everything from administrative tasks and gala preparations to assistance with child care and healing teams.
Volunteers are also key to the weekly Compassion Camps, which feature wellness-themed activities designed for children of all abilities. Volunteers receive hands-on training and education to develop compassion skills that provide insight into the core issues and challenges faced by those with illness or special needs.
“By giving, you are actually receiving. You are learning how to be with a particular population: People who are experiencing illness or disabilities. You broaden your horizons as a volunteer and develop compassion skills that can carry forward through the rest of your life,” Beider said.
Josie Hannah, a junior majoring in physiology at the University of Arizona and minoring in psychology and public health, is experiencing this in real time as an intern with the organization.
“My favorite part of Integrative Touch is working with kiddos and families with all abilities ... Integrative Touch has helped me to branch out,” said Hannah, who aspires to work in the pediatric field.
Hannah has worked frequently with children in the Compassion Camps throughout the summer and fall and assists with children who come to the “Kids Sanctuary” while family members receive treatments at the Healing Center.
She said that when she began her internship seven months ago, she immediately recognized that the center was a special place.
“One of the first things I noticed is that I would get really calm once I went in. It is meant to be a super healing environment and it actually is. It is a beautiful, welcoming, wonderful place to be and it has taught me a lot. Every time I leave there, I feel at peace,” Hannah said.
Hannah has also learned that integrative medicine can be combined with traditional Western medicine to optimize health and healing.
“I think holistic healing offers many different opportunities. Holistic remedies and integrative medicine are there for people not as a fall-back solution, but as something that can be intertwined with traditional Western medicine. Healing in isolation is not as good as healing within a community, and by treating families and friends, they can be a greater support system for the person who has been diagnosed,” Hannah said.
