CLINIC FILES COMMUNITY Healers welcome was waiting on the front porch of an old bungalow home that’s been converted into a chiropractic office when Dr. Sandy Kunej pulled into the drive-way of the Family Care Chiropractic Clinic in Brantford, Ont. Clad in a purple golf shirt and khaki pants. He was dressed for work, but not in his private practice, which was closed for the day. He was on his way to see his patients at the homeless shelter, just a few kilometers from his office. The Brantford Welcome In Resource Centre, located in Brantford, Ont., has been providing shelter and resources for the homeless, the under-housed and those at risk of homelessness since 2004. “The centre believes in a ‘whole person’ approach to serving guests and works in partnership with other local agencies to ensure our guests have access to services they need to achieve personal success in overcoming life issues,” the centre’s website indicates. Last year, it added a free chiropractic clinic to the list of services it offers, thanks to some chiropractors in the area, led by Kunej, who stepped up and made it happen. Kunej has always wanted to find a way to give back to his community, and when the opportunity to open a free clinic at the Welcome In Resource Centre came up, Kunej imme-diately jumped on board and recruited several other chiro-practors in the area. With a little grant from the Ontario Chiropractic Associ-ation, and equipment donations from other DCs (including two chiropractic tables) the Welcome In chiropractic clinic opened its doors in July 2015. In practice for 20 years, Kunej is trained in various MARI-LEN DE GUZMAN is the editor of Canadian Chiropractor magazine. She has been a journalist for 20 years and has been editor of several business and professional publications. You can contact her at [email protected]. 30 Canadian Chiropractor September 2016 I Volunteer chiros offer free clinic for shelter patrons by mari -len de guzman Dr. Sandy Kunej and other volunteer DCs spend their Fridays offering their healing hands to patrons of the Welcome In shelter in Brantford. techniques and modalities and sees a variety of patients in his private clinic – families, children, pregnant women and athletes. With the limited time and resources available, however, chiropractic care at the Welcome In clinic goes back to basics. “We don’t have any modalities, we have simple chiroprac-tic tables that were donated by our other colleagues here in town, and we provide chiropractic in its purest form,” Kunej says. “We check the spine for nerve interference, subluxa-tions, and turn on people’s power – that’s the best way to describe it.” Personal touch The clinic set up is pretty basic: a desk, a couple of chairs, a filing cabinet and two chiropractic tables – certainly, not like your typical, modern chiropractic office. But for the people who come in for treatment at the Welcome In clinic, it’s been more than sufficient. Patients under the care of the volunteer chiropractors at the shelter come back week after week, happy for the care they receive and the service that they would not have been able to afford otherwise. www.canadianchiropractor.ca
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor September 2016: Page 30
