BLACK'N'NATURE LLC: WELLNESS CENTER

Black’N’Nature is a holistic wellness center that blends Complementary and alternative medicine, mind-body therapies, and nutrition to bring impactful and helpful services to our communities. We welcome all to join, but we focus on our low-serving and underdeveloped families and community members. We have developed maternity care services that provide a safe space before and after birth protection for our families. An apothecary that dispenses and uses a combination of herbs, medicinal mushrooms(fungi), spices, and plants to help combat ailments, illnesses, and diseases that thrive in our society. And lastly, herbal consultations help provide you with guidance to apply the knowledge we give you to your health and life. Our goal is to ultimately provide all of our communities a way to thrive through care, passion, and change.

When it comes to the BIPOC community, the disparities and systematic inequality they face have unfortunately become a staple that most note and talk about, but that’s where it seems to stop. Now, don’t get us wrong, there are individuals, groups, and communities out there striving to make a difference, but sometimes it can seem like those voices for change are often overshadowed. We are no different from those other voices, but we are hoping that instead of becoming a part of the system that wants to do better but due to limited resources cannot, we strive and flourish to where we can continue to offer care that all deserve to have. That is why we ask you for your support to make sure we continue to push and obtain those resources needed to better all of our communities one step at a time. 

In many journals about systematic racism in the healthcare system for the BIPOC communities, the implicit biases and racial disparities play a part in the morbidity and mortality rate amongst the black and brown community. It was said that racial disparities and biases could be looked at and seen in many ways when it comes to “lower” communities which are mainly made up of the BIPOC community. Here are some examples of how racial biases can be seen in the healthcare system:

• Physicians choose not to prescribe the most effective health- and life-conserving treatments to minorities (Studies have shown that certain physicians had the thought process that the white counterpart could feel pain a lot more than the minority and or black counterpart. Which influences how much, how old, and what form of medicine both parties receive)
• Charging extra and or creating steep fees for diseases that are more apparent and rampant in the BIPOC community. (EX. Diabetes, Thyroid Issues, HIV/Aids, etc.)
• Creating and or giving resources to areas where it is majority whitewashed and or white-based, leaving BIPOC individuals to build up their communities with limited resources.
• Speed and quality of service regardless of whether insured and or uninsured. 
• Inadequate environmental spaces and communities resulting in frequent hospitalization for children and adults alike. The parents are usually faulted due to poor parental skills and not the fact that their environment could be a pool of bacteria, mold, lead poisoning, overpopulation, poor nutrition quality, etc.

“Black Americans were nearly twice as likely as their white neighbors to lack health insurance as recently as 2018.”

On the CDC's page, NCHs released the first data on maternal mortality since 2007. "A maternal death is defined as "the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy," but excludes those from accidental/incidental causes. Official statistics are obtained through death certificates completed by physicians and reported to the states." According to the CDC, they were able to compile the new data and comparisons into three reports that will touch on what they have found over the decade. Here are some statistics from the CDC page itself.

• The maternal mortality rate in the U.S. for 2018 was 17.4 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. This rate is higher than the last time NCHS published a national rate (12.7 in 2007), but the increase in the maternal mortality rate primarily reflects changes in the way the data was collected and reported.
• 658 women died of maternal causes in the U.S. using the 2018 coding method.
• Wide racial/ethnic gaps exist between non-Hispanic black (37.1 per 100,000 live births), non-Hispanic white (14.7), and Hispanic (11.8) women, which is consistent with earlier data.
• The maternal mortality rate for women aged 40 and over (81.9 per 100,000 live births) is nearly 8 times that for women under age 25 (10.6).
• NCHS has identified instances where the application of the checkbox information according to coding rules led to misclassification of maternal deaths, and NCHS is making changes in coding rules and reporting to make data more accurate.

WHO IS OUR MARKET AUDIENCE

At Black'N'Nature, we hope our message reaches those who understand the importance of getting quality and supporting care and those who are not affected by it but understand why we need to make a change. Of course, our audience is usually mothers, birthing/birth work professionals, individuals into alternative practices, herbalists, etc. Still, we are hoping with this campaign to reach new heights, ears, and eyes, hoping to bring about a systematic change for our mothers and communities. A lot of the individuals we represent don't have the privilege and or voice to speak out, so we're hoping those with a platform and the privilege will step in so we can establish a world where those individuals without a voice at that moment doesn't have to experience that for the rest of their lives. We're calling on all brothers and sisters who want better when it comes to quality health and maternal care, and we won't stop until we break and beat the system.

WHAT DO WE PROVIDE

Black’N’Nature offers a string of services that impacts health and maternal care. We offer herbal consultations, affordable herbal apothecary, maternal services (birth & labor doula, postpartum, placenta, etc.), and educational platforms to inform our customers and audience about the importance of nutrition, what they’re putting into their body, how to self-advocate, expecting and postpartum information, and more. With all of these services, you would think we have a whole team, but no, we’re a small business of 2 that offers travel and or virtual services to our clients to bring them a safe and comfortable session. We are securing certifications and licenses to provide more of an in-person feeling that will include our community more. We want to not only open a storefront that will house our community clinic that will provide sliding, reduced, and or free services to community members who need it most; we also want to provide a safe space for our birthing clients to have not only that herbal consulting option but also a home away from home.

FUNDING

We decided to open a crowdfunding page for many reasons. Not only do we want to bring a more accessible and open community outreach, but we also have a lot of plans for expanding Black’N’Nature for the best. Our expansion will look like opening a community clinic in 2022 specializing in herbal and integrative care that will open safe space for our clients, whether they’re there for herbal consulting, apothecary orders, maternity services, integrative practices (yoga, meditation space, etc.). Our clinic will include maternity care and house a section just for our birthing parent’s care and comfortability. We are actually in the process of securing certification and licensing to accommodate and offer midwifery services in our clinic. This plays a massive part in our funding; we are raising funds to bring a community clinic and fund our midwifery certification process that can come with its fees. Black’N’Nature will be the first black-owned and only wellness center in Atlanta that offers maternity care, herbal services that include consultations and apothecary work, and education workshops, resources, and more. We will be honored to bring a piece of hope and vision to our community and yours. This funding will bring awareness, education, and quality care to underdeveloped and poverty-stricken communities that could benefit from it the most. We welcome all, but we do have a duty to highlight and change a system that continues to bring biases and inequality to the table. 

OUR TEAM

Black’N’Nature is a small business made up of two. Our members are comprised of our founder Deondra Henderson and our creative director Kyle Franklin. This started when our founder had a dream for a better future for the black and brown community and an experienced UX designer who knew how to bring her vision to light. This pair created what is now known as Black’N’Nature, one of the first of its kind. Countless hours of work and planning are put into motion by our team to create, as we’ve stated through this campaign, “a change in the system.”

  Kyle & Deondra at Black’N’Natures first official photoshoot 

On behalf of everyone on our team and Black’N’Nature LLC itself, we would like to thank you for all of your support. Whether it’s sharing our crowdfunding campaign, donating monetarily, or purchasing one of our packets, we are truly thankful and humbled. Without your support and belief, black and nature wouldn’t be able to grow and make the change it needs to, so here we are declaring to continue to do right by our communities and make sure your support doesn’t go unnoticed. We will take everything given and put it back into our communities, creating hope, family, and the love needed to do this line of work. We are truly grateful and thankful. 

Warmly, Black’N’Nature LLC