Power100 Champion Community Wellness Collaborative Powers Healthier Communities with Free Holistic Care Clinics
- Jun 6, 2025
- by Alyson Smith
While most nonprofits hold donation drives or galas to raise money for their programs, acupuncturist Ryan Altman practices medicine to bring free clinics to underserved communities.
“I used to describe it as the Robin Hood method of funding,” Altman said. “We created this brick-and-mortar clinic in Normal Heights to offer affordable healthcare, but this was also our revenue generating arm — our fundraising arm as a nonprofit — to be able to make these (free) programs sustainable.”
Altman founded the nonprofit Community Wellness Collaborative 20 years ago. In his clinic on Adams Avenue, he has been working to increase access to holistic care, which is an approach to healthcare that considers the patient’s mental and emotional needs in addition to their physical needs. His clinic provides services such as acupuncture, chiropractic care, massage and naturopathic medicine. The proceeds from the clinic are then used to fund weekly, free outreach clinics in historically underserved communities.
During a typical free clinic, Community Wellness Collaborative staff and their team of volunteers — including supervised student interns from the Pacific College of Health Science and local massage schools — provide services to 25 to 30 patients.
To date, they’ve provided roughly 35,000 free services.
But for Altman, health requires more than just physical well-being; it also requires a clean, healthy community — which is why Community Wellness Collaborative partnered with San Diego Community Power to supply its clinic with 100% renewable energy and become a Power100 Champion.
As a Power100 Champion, Community Wellness Collaborative is contributing to a cleaner, more sustainable community, as well as Community Power’s goal to provide 100% renewable energy for the San Diego region by 2035 or sooner.
“As soon as I heard what it was that Community Power was trying to accomplish, it felt like we were on the same wavelength,” Altman said. “We were part of the same mission. What Community Power does ties directly into our mission of making healthy living affordable and accessible.”
The value of becoming a Power100 Champion extends beyond just renewable energy, Altman said. Since joining, he’s had opportunities to meet several of his fellow Champions, discovering like-minded, local businesses and connecting with other founders with similar values.
This is especially valuable in an industry like holistic health, which relies heavily on word-of-mouth to bring in new clients, Altman said.
“It’s really about finding people that care about sustainability and care about the world around them,” he said. “If you find the people that actually care about giving back to the community… that’s how you build not just clients, but a support network.”
Altman joked that Community Wellness Collaborative is “in the business of losing patients,” meaning his goal is to effectively help or heal patients so that their pain alleviates, and their need for frequent treatment reduces. Their doors are therefore always open to new clients.
And oftentimes, those new clients choose Community Wellness Collaborative not just because of the services that are offered, but because the clinic’s mission resonates with them.
“Not only are we really good practitioners, but hearing about our mission tells a whole other story,” Altman said. “They’re not just getting their services. They’re not just feeling better about themselves. They’re helping their whole community feel better.”