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First Curve's Community Apothecary is a community outreach program that utilizes circular economy practices to connect with urban foragers, local urban farms, and community gardens within Chicago.

 

Collaborating with these plant folx allows us to share in the abundance of wild and weedy medicinal plants, which we tend, harvest, process, extract, and offer back to the community as herbal remedies at an accessible and sliding-scale price.

The Community Apothecary also offers students of our Greenspell Bioregional Herbalism Intensive the opportunity for plant connection and community engagement. Through the community apothecary students are able to connect with plants throughout their growth cycle, learning to harvest, process, extract for medicine, formulate, blend, bottle, and eventually guide community members as to which herbal remedies will best support them. This gives students the opportunity to learn about the practice of bioregional herbalism through each step of the process, and to empower community members to engage with herbal healing within their own communities in their own way, and in relationship with the plants around them.

Finally the Community Apothecary supports and subsidizes our Herbal Free Clinic which provides no-fee consultations and a discount on herbal teas and tinctures for individuals who may not be able to afford the full price of a private consultation.

Scroll down for more information on past events and how we've allocated proceeds in the past.

Pop-Ups Over the Years

Our first on November 6, 2021 at Chicago Patchwork Farms went off without a hitch! There was a lively fire cider making workshop, a community apothecary stand with sliding-scale herbal remedies, yoga, free zines, delicious and toasty herb-infused apple cider, and more!

Our Second Community Apothecary Pop-up was on October 9, 2022 at the Comfort Station in Logan Square. We had all of the fun stuff we had going on the previous year, plus a guest workshop from one of Greenspell's students!

Our third annual Community Apothecary Pop-up was on October 8, 2023 at the Comfort Station in Logan Square. In addition to all of goodies we offered in past years, this year we offered three student-led workshops to support our community in learning about herbal medicines and connecting with their body and earth.

These pop-ups further support our efforts to provide more accessible herbal remedies and education for our community, empowering community members to engage with herbal medicines to support their health and cultivate preventative self-care. They are entirely non-profit and donation-based. No one turned away for lack of funds. To learn more about how we allocate our proceeds from these events, keep on scrolling!

Donations over the Years

Earnings from each iteration of our Community Apothecary are allocated in several ways, depending on the year, often going to local urban farms, pop-up hosts, scholarship fund for the Greenspell Bioregional Herbalism Intensive, our herbal free clinic, local community empowerment initiatives and non-profits, and the costs of running the community apothecary.

See the donations we've made over the years below:

2021:

• $250.63 for Patchwork Farms

• $584.00 for Assata's Daughters

• $187.97 for Chi-Nations Youth Council

• Enough to award two $400 scholarships for the 2022 session of First Curve's Greenspell Bioregional Herbalism Intensive.

2022:

• $200.23 for Patchwork Farms

• $225.00 for Bloodroot Herb Shop

• $200.22 for Comfort Station Logan Square

• Enough to award three $400 scholarships for the 2023 session of First Curve's Greenspell Bioregional Herbalism Intensive.

2023:

• $179.89 for Patchwork Farms

• $128.49 for Comfort Station Logan Square

• Enough to award two $400 scholarships for the 2024 session of First Curve's Greenspell Bioregional Herbalism Intensive.

As an initiative, we are still growing, and we are working to develop relationships with more local urban farms, urban foragers, and community gardens. If you, or someone you know is interested in supporting this project, please reach out to alex@firstcurveapothecary.com

Images by Cameron Sand