West Village Wellness October aims to educate the neighborhood on how to avoid and what to do about tick-borne illnesses.
On October 13th, at 2:00 pm, West Village Wellness will have our monthly event at the WestBeth Community Room, entrance on Bank Street between Washington Street and West Street (the Westside Highway), free of charge and all are welcome to attend. Almost two years ago, Ilana Aminov, Pharmacist at Grove Drug and Drug Mart, and I brainstormed on what we could do to give back to our beloved neighborhood by educating through entertainment. With the support of WestBeth Artist Residences (WestBeth.org), we donated our time and efforts to cultivate a place for community well being and enrichment of ideas. We have medically educated speakers come to inform the neighborhood on issues we care about such as October’s topic of Tick-Borne illnesses like Lyme Disease. I usually open the meeting with conversation dealing with personal matters, talking about related issues like nourishment for the soul as well as the body. We do movement exercises, sing, read poetry, and have musical performers. We help foster community in a time when civility seems scarce. In the last half hour of the two-hour program, we share a meal, salads, tuna/chicken/vegetarian roll-ups and such, kindly provided by Michael at Tavern on Jane, to emphasize the social aspects. We also serve sodas and wine for those who enjoy a sip. I’ve lived on West 12th Street for 29 years and have seen tremendous and terrible change—too many Starbucks and not enough affordable grocery stores, too many entitled overly wealthy white snobs and not enough diversity, too many homeless and not enough hopefulness. What happened to Our Community? I thought gentrification only affected poor neighborhoods until I survived through this chaotic tragic transformation. Being poor in a rich neighborhood is a bitch.
West Village Wellness was created to help us come together as a united community of folks from the neighborhood, building friendships and an encouraging environment. We really want all New Yorkers to come—curious visitors, anyone feeling isolated or lonely, Gay, Straight, Black or White, Green or Gray, we are more alike than different. So come meet your neighbors and make new friendships, share your thoughts or just listen and learn. You are invited to join us—remember too, we are here the second Sunday of every month. We are in the process of setting up a monthly food bank with the help of Trader Joe’s and WestView News and also developing a mentoring program for older adults to “adopt” or commit time to a young person in need.
To reach West Village Wellness by email: westvillagewe@gmail.com or 551-333-3020 for voicemail. West Village Wellness is nonprofit and always absolutely free.
—Michael Drew Embrey
