When Darcy Carroll speaks about Poke Community Acupuncture, she really stresses the affordability piece. "We're trying to make acupuncture affordable for patients, and viable as employment for acupuncturists. So the the idea is to create a high volume low cost model so that patients can access treatments as often as they need in order to feel better." Acupuncturists at Poke treat multiple patients in an hour, which allows the team to lower the pay scale and make the service more accessible. The community clinic gave out 10,000 treatments in 2015.
Darcy is a bright, vivacious woman who projects her commitment and ideals enthusiastically. She’s the owner of Poke, but stresses that it’s a social enterprise — that’s “community” in another, equally important, sense of the word. "There's solidarity in our mission and values," Darcy explains. "It’s a sense of solidarity not just in terms of patients but in terms of colleagues and co-workers. Poke has volunteer receptionists, for example — individuals who are passionate about affordable acupuncture, and what to be a part of something bigger Volunteers are placed through POCA, the Peoples’ Organization of Community Acupuncture. Originating in Portland, Oregon, the group provides information, education, microloans for businesses and more.
