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Camden Wellness Providing holistic health services in a blighted American city is one of hundreds of ways in which Medical Mission Sisters around the world try to be a healing presence to those in need today. An estimated 70% of residents in Camden, New Jersey, live at or below the poverty line. Many do not have adequate housing, nutrition, or health care. But thanks to Sister Lucy Klein-Gebbinck and her Camden Wellness program, the city's residents do have access to affordable holistic health services, such as massage, yoga, reflexology, and health and wellness education.
Holistic health care considers the body, mind, and spirit of a person, and leans toward natural treatments, rather than drugs. Sister Lucy, who lives and works in Camden, is a certified massage therapist who began the wellness program in 1999. The response from the community was very positive, and the number of full-hour sessions offered by the program has quadrupled in 5 years. With a staff of 11, Camden Wellness operates at 4 sites - all of them in existing community centers - and also includes visits to nursing homes, a homeless center, and a youth development office.
"Camden residents with limited and fixed incomes pay what they can for services that help combat illness-inducing stress and manage debilitating conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, and hypertension," explains an article in the Courier-Post newspaper. The services often bring relief from pain, as well as improved mobility and flexibility. "Sister Lucy and her project is the most exciting thing in health care in all of Camden," Dr. Jeffrey Brenner told the National Catholic Reporter (NCR). "There's a tremendous need for another type of health care, distinct from the typical urban model … they are in the trenches, doing face-to-face health care." "By opening myself to God's healing energy, I can facilitate healing," Sister Lucy says simply. As the article in the NCR explains, "The net result of feeling relaxed in the midst of a stressful environment not only aids clients, but benefits practitioners, too. It is, as one Sister noted, a 'mutual exchange, with each learning from the other on this common journey to wholeness and healing.'"
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