Herbal Accessibility Fund

After seven years of growing as a community herbalist in Lincoln, Arise Botanicals is asking for help to expand the amount of herbal remedies and education gifted to the community at large.

Hello, my name is Alex Svoboda. You may already know me and are fully aware of my passion for connecting people and plants in good relationship. I have been working with plant medicines since 2007 and have had the great honor of operating my business, Arise Botanicals, since 2016. I am a community and clinical herbalist which means that I see clients, teach classes and grow, harvest, process, formulate, package and sell herbal remedies. Many hands are involved in this work. I am held in this practice by a wonderful community and I am asking my community for help.

Throughout my years of learning and working as an herbalist, I have been gifting plant remedies to many, many people. As plants so generously offer themselves to make good medicines, many herbalists offer these medicines free or at cost. As an anti-capitalist business owner, I am forever learning, listening and adapting my practice to support my community and sustain this work that I love for the long haul. I am asking for support to expand these offerings.

My current capacity has been gifting approximately $100 per month to those who are asking for herbal remedies. Many months this is 8-10% of my total income. I offer all my client sessions and many of my classes on a sliding scale. By launching an accessibility fund, I will be able to expand the amount that I can gift to client and community members, as well as local organizations. This fund will also allow for me to re-engage in gathering remedies and sending solidarity packages to those organizing in crisis conditions as I have done in the past for Standing Rock and along the US/Mexico border.

There will be no application needed and as has been the case for years people can reach out when in need and receive what they need. Often times, I am offering remedies as I see the need arise and with this fund, will be able to expand in my ability to do so. Individuals will be able to access up to $50 per month for homegrown herbal medicines and nutritional supplements. This also extends to covering the cost for classes and workshops. I will be keeping track of donations received (through GFM, venmo etc.) and donations given on a spreadsheet so I can continue to learn from this ongoing process of creative community funding. For anyone who is interested, I will be happy to share this information as well. Accessibiltiy and accountability go hand-in-hand.

I came into herbalism through community organizing and mutual-aid. Finding ways to deepen the relationship we hold with the ecosystems around us is at the root of my work. I have found that with the right herbal remedy at the right time, or by participating in a hands-on workshop to learn most about this craft, the spark of relationship with the medicinal plants growing all around us is lit up. This fund is an experiment to grow this relational work and I invite you to ask questions and share feedback so we can find and fund more models that work for all of us.

Thank you so much for your support!