The People’s Organization of Community Acupuncture
Established March, 2011
From the beginning, the Community Acupuncture movement has been led by practitioners to serve patients. The movement has grown from a single clinic in Portland, Oregon, to hundreds of clinics around the world.
Until 2011, the Community Acupuncture Network, (CAN, a 501c6 non-profit) professional organization was the main vehicle for the growth and proliferation of community acupuncture. But there were needs best met by a new organizational structure –  a multi-stakeholder cooperative. This cooperative structure created a means for the direct involvement of patients in the process of governing the organization.Â
In 2021, POCA transitioned once again to a 501c6 non-profit in order to continue to be a sustainable organization. Read more about POCA’s transition here.
WHY IS COMMUNITY ACUPUNCTURE IMPORTANT?
- Acupuncture is important to our health as individuals, families, co-workers, and community members, because it provides inexpensive, non-invasive relief from pain and suffering.
- Community Acupuncture defines and supports a mode of direct delivery of inexpensive care for people of ordinary incomes regardless of insurance coverage.
- Community Acupuncture provides a new model for healthcare and self-care empowerment.
- Community Acupuncture has at its heart a commitment to social justice and the deconstruction of barriers to care and health care resources.
- Community Acupuncture’s commitment to social justice addresses barriers to accessing care and training in the field of acupuncture.
- In its first 10 years, the Community Acupuncture movement has created employment opportunities where there were none. However, because of graduates’ debt load and the prevailing professional culture, many of these positions have yet to be filled.
NEEDS THAT POCA ADDRESSES:
- affordable acupuncture
- professional clinic support including staffing, training, management, and mentoring
- affordable training, education, and continuing education
- Identifying as yet un-served communities
- new paradigms of healthcare and health empowerment
- revitalizing local economies
- social capital and financial capital in our communities and in the community acupuncture movement
- bridging with other communities that are working for social justice
JOIN POCA TO:
- promote accessible and affordable acupuncture.
- support an international healthcare movement concerned with access to care and social justice.
- have a say in how POCA does things. Every voice and vote matters. Join a POCA circle (committee), vote in the annual elections, be counted and heard.
- create more living-wage jobs for acupuncturists and support staff.
- volunteer at local clinics and in the larger organization.
- support a working model for sustainable, ethical, and affordable healthcare practice.
Read about specific patient/community member and punk/student membership benefits.