Pathways To Wellness Has Closed

Pathways to Wellness, a South End institution that has delivered holistic care to Boston’s residents for 25 years, shut its doors Sunday afternoon. Past and current patients found out in an email from Devan Dewey, Pathways to Wellness’ president and board chair. The beginning of the email reads:

With great sadness, I am announcing the closure of Pathways to Wellness. Barring an infusion of capital to sustain the organization through a restructuring, Pathways to Wellness is closing its doors effective Sunday, September 14, 2014.

In July, the non-profit sent out a plea for help, saying that it needed $200,000 to keep running. It set up a crowdfunding campaign, but it seems, unfortunately, that it did not work.

Pathways, which first opened in 1989 as the AIDS Care Project, was a non-profit, holistic therapies clinic. It offered an alternative to regular medical treatment, by provide acupuncture, massage, and other pain management techniques. It used a “Share the Care” business model (which we likened to be the Toms or Warby Parker of alternative medicine) where by paying full price for your services, you proved free or low cost care to those who need it most.

The email goes on to say:

Our organization’s impact on our community over the past 25 years has been significant. By reducing pain and suffering for those who would not otherwise have access to holistic care, we improved the quality of life for thousands of clients. We brought relief to people suffering from life-threatening diseases and their treatments, severe disabilities, the aftermath of armed combat and other traumatic events, and recovery from addiction. In recent years we have provided over 10,000 treatments each year. We also have advanced the practice of holistic care by measuring clinical outcomes and publishing research in the field. We have educated hundreds of medical professionals and lay people in the community regarding the effectiveness of holistic therapies, and we have completed and published research in the field of acupuncture in conjunction with the Boston University School of Public Health, the U.S. Bureau of Veterans Affairs, and the National Institutes of Health.

Over the last 12 months, Pathways moved to a new location at 35 West Newton Street with very high hopes for our future. Unfortunately we encountered multiple setbacks and losses which compounded each other. It seemed that we were thwarted at every turn, and at this point we do not have the funds to continue operations. We must shut the clinic doors and proceed with dissolving the organization. Even while the Board continues to seek out other sources of funding, partnership opportunities, and alternate strategies for fulfilling the Pathways mission; we must also undertake the difficult and serious business of closing the organization as we know it today.