ABOUT THE WANDER SCHOOL
The WANDER School was founded by herbalist, botanist, author, and professional forager Abby Artemisia in 2015 to serve communities by providing inspiration for a personal connection with nature and empowering individuals to improve their health through holistic means.
The WANDER School is based in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Services ranging from botanical property surveys, wildcrafting apprenticeships, and herbal education workshops as well as extensive virtual learning opportunities are available to help people make connections with the natural world. Free resources available from The WANDER School to provide accessible nature connection and empowerment include the Wander, Forage & Wildcraft podcast and The WANDER School's YouTube Channel featuring Plant Identification, Classes and Plant Walks and more.
ABOUT THE NON-PROFIT
In 2020, The WANDER School became a 501(c)3 registered non-profit organization with the mission to connect underserved communities in need (such as Indigenous, Black, Queer, and Appalachian) to medicinal herbs.
Over the past decade, Abby has learned and taught that much of what we know about herbs and their benefits, here in the US, came directly from Indigenous and Black people. However, overdevelopment and structural inequities in land ownership prevent those same cultures from benefiting from nature’s harvest.
While some communities lack access to the plants and herbs traditional to their culture, other communities may have an abundance of those herbs. To date, there is no centralized means to connect these communities.
WHAT THE NON-PROFIT IS DOING NOW
COMMUNITIES CURRENTLY BEING SUPPORTED
Currently, The WANDER School is working with seven underserved communities who need and want medicinal herbs: Cherokee in North Carolina, Lakota in North and South Dakota, Gullah (descendants of enslaved Africans) in South Carolina, Appalachian single parent/impoverished families, and teen mothers in Tennessee.
FUTURE PLANS FOR EXPANSION
In the future, as grants allow, The WANDER School will build, host and promote a virtual database that will connect underserved communities (such as Indigenous, Black, Queer, and Appalachian) in need to medicinal herbs through a network of companies, foragers, growers, and herbalists who are willing to donate herbs and herbal remedies.
The WANDER School was founded by herbalist, botanist, author, and professional forager Abby Artemisia in 2015 to serve communities by providing inspiration for a personal connection with nature and empowering individuals to improve their health through holistic means.
The WANDER School is based in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Services ranging from botanical property surveys, wildcrafting apprenticeships, and herbal education workshops as well as extensive virtual learning opportunities are available to help people make connections with the natural world. Free resources available from The WANDER School to provide accessible nature connection and empowerment include the Wander, Forage & Wildcraft podcast and The WANDER School's YouTube Channel featuring Plant Identification, Classes and Plant Walks and more.
ABOUT THE NON-PROFIT
In 2020, The WANDER School became a 501(c)3 registered non-profit organization with the mission to connect underserved communities in need (such as Indigenous, Black, Queer, and Appalachian) to medicinal herbs.
Over the past decade, Abby has learned and taught that much of what we know about herbs and their benefits, here in the US, came directly from Indigenous and Black people. However, overdevelopment and structural inequities in land ownership prevent those same cultures from benefiting from nature’s harvest.
While some communities lack access to the plants and herbs traditional to their culture, other communities may have an abundance of those herbs. To date, there is no centralized means to connect these communities.
WHAT THE NON-PROFIT IS DOING NOW
- The WANDER School is currently handling administrative redistribution of medicinal herbs to seven underserved communities in our pilot program, and continues to expand.
- Additionally, The WANDER School is asking our audience to become more aware of the need to acknowledge the traditional, indigenous roots of botanical, herbal, foraging and wildcrafting teachings.
- Finally, in November 2020, The WANDER School launched the "Reciprocity (Giving Back) in Action" Initiative, a new product purchasing program soliciting matched donations to underserved communities in need with every purchase of Abby Artemisia's handmade wildcrafted Appalachian herbal products.
- The WANDER School will continue providing free botanical education to communities in need to empower them to gather their own herbs and make their own herbal medicine.
COMMUNITIES CURRENTLY BEING SUPPORTED
Currently, The WANDER School is working with seven underserved communities who need and want medicinal herbs: Cherokee in North Carolina, Lakota in North and South Dakota, Gullah (descendants of enslaved Africans) in South Carolina, Appalachian single parent/impoverished families, and teen mothers in Tennessee.
FUTURE PLANS FOR EXPANSION
In the future, as grants allow, The WANDER School will build, host and promote a virtual database that will connect underserved communities (such as Indigenous, Black, Queer, and Appalachian) in need to medicinal herbs through a network of companies, foragers, growers, and herbalists who are willing to donate herbs and herbal remedies.