I was in Patchwork’s main office one morning when a man came in after showering, sat down across from me, pulled up a pant leg, and finished rubbing something into his skin. He reported, “Katie gave me some magnesium rub for my knee. I was skeptical at first, but…it works! I got a steroid pack from my doctor, but I don’t think it provided as much relief as this.”
He was just one of many recent Sozo Health Ministry clients who are grateful for the complementary and alternative medicines that they receive thanks to Katie, our associate health minister and complementary and alternative medicine specialist.
The items from Katie help our guests feel better in a variety of ways. Whether it’s achy joints, itchy skin, or protection from a cold, Katie is ready to listen compassionately and provide something soothing in response to what someone needs. Katie makes many of the products herself including cooling sprays, lip balm with sunscreen, bug spray, calamine soap, and elderberry immune support gummies.
A few weeks ago, a woman stopped her car at Patchwork’s alley door after we had closed for the day. I asked her if I could help her with something, but she said that she was actually there to help me. “I brought you some boxes of healthy cereal for your food pantry,” she said. “It should help a lot! And I wanted to tell you how grateful I am for the poison ivy soap that Katie gave me earlier this summer. I had poison ivy so bad! I’m living at my mother’s house a couple blocks from here and she’s got poison ivy on the fence. I keep getting it when I cut the grass. Katie gave me two soaps and told me to put on a little bit once a day. Look! The poison ivy is gone! It feels so much better.” She showed me her arm, and indeed it was.
An example of how Katie’s complementary medicine dovetails with the work in traditional medicine that John does comes from another Sozo client. The client has recently begun dialysis treatments, but things have not gone smoothly. John has been advocating for the man through missed transportation, miscommunication among doctors, and adjustments to the dialysis treatment plan. Dialysis has been stressful and unpleasant, though medically necessary. In the middle of all of this stress, Katie researched some complementary and alternative medicine for the man. She discovered that nettle tea supports kidney function and got some for him to try. He enjoys it and drinks some daily. It’s soothing and healthful. “He has stuck with it,” Katie reports. “It gives him hope.”