“Help Freed Bodyworks Survive the Pandemic”

1337 Pennsylvania Ave, SE

Thanks to all who passed on this important GoFundMe.

The GoFundMe says:

“For 9 years Freed Bodyworks has provided exceptional wellness services with the passionate commitment to accessibility for all people. We commit ourselves everyday to making Freed a place that’s safe for people who are queer, trans/nonbinary, fat, BIPOC, Deaf, trauma survivors, polyamorous, sex workers, and who have seen and unseen disabilities.

We are hanging on by a thread in this economic crisis and we are reaching out to our community to help us preserve this unique healing space.

We are currently reliant on bodywork services for all of our revenue and ours is an industry that is coming back slowly. Both massage therapists and clients have to accept a certain amount of risk and quite simply, not enough people are ready yet.

But we have 6 therapists (down from 19) seeing a consistent flow of clients and that is paying a lot if the bills. Our last nine years has taught us well how to stretch a budget! We’ve survived 4 moves, 2 corrupt landlords and a fire. So, rest assured we’re being as resourceful as we can, but we need help filling the deficit that builds each month between revenue and overhead.

What makes Freed Bodyworks unique?

We are bodyworkers, acupuncturists, energy workers, and mental health providers who personally understand the barriers of judgment that have kept many people out of healing practices of all types, so we fiercely embrace the many ways that people’s bodies don’t conform to societal norms: gender identity, race, weight, culture, sub-culture, employment, ability, illness, age, and more.

Our mission statement is that our clients will receive excellent therapeutic care and not have to explain, defend or educate their health practitioner about their body, lifestyle, or ability.

We have been providing this space for 9 years, we’ve employed 52 people all with marginalized identities, and we’ve served over 8,000 clients. And, we are fiercely determined to survive.

So how’s the business holding up in COVID times?

We take things one hurtle at a time and after each one, we say to each other that “Freed lives to fight another day.” Day by day, challenge after challenge is the only thing that makes sense right now.

As a business that provides services that require close proximity, the challenge is real. We’ve adopted many new practices to keep our clients and ourselves safe. They have been costly and labor-intensive but absolutely the right way to reopen. Additionally, our hands are tied by local regulations that limit the capacity of our space to roughly 50% of what was allowed before we had to close.

Our customers and our practitioners who are ready, are coming back to Freed. Our customers and our practitioners who aren’t ready, are doing what’s best for their health and the health of their loved ones. We respect both decisions fully.

We need your support to keep the business afloat until more of our community feels safe to return. So many people are struggling during this time and we didn’t want to ask for financial support until we were sure we needed it.

Where can I learn more about Freed Bodyworks?
www.freedbodyworks.com + Facebook or IG @FreedBodyworks
And check out the photos below to see us in action!

Thank you for supporting us,
Team Freed”