Wood River Center for Hope
BY ISAIAH FRIZZELL
Our world is intimately connected in an infinity of delightful, delicate, yet robust systems of function that some call it magic, some natural design, and others see it as perhaps chaos. Yet there is a harmony and coherence that’s immediately apparent. For instance, when you hear there’s going to be snowfall, it arrives and soon after you see ski tracks meandering the mountainsides. Someone was there!. Probably enjoying the fresh snow. The connections are myriad and vast, acting as a symphony that creates this thing we call life.
Whatever you choose to call it, the ultimate realization is that we are not alone. As highly social creatures in a tightly-knit continuum, what happens to one affects us all. Does a tree make a sound when it falls if no person is there to hear it? That koan is about perspective, and of course it makes a sound. Did any deer ears perk from the echo? Does the wind now swirl differently in the space where the tree once stood? Where do the birds who used to rest on the branches during their annual migration sit now? The squirrels, the insects, the sunlight itself that fed the canopy, are there new trees growing around the old one that bathe now more in the sun? Are there plants with a breath of fresh air feeding the small fauna, the soil and insects in the area?
Life is a splendid adventure taking place all around us all the time and then there’s our beautiful human community—a network of individuals, each with a distinct role to play just by being. If someone falls ill and no one’s there to help, does the community feel it?
The bonds that bolster a location and create balance and joy in life are tight in Sun Valley and there’s a timeless yet decidedly timely group of people who see deeply how the potential differences in a community are a gift in bringing people together to create solutions—new and unique ideas to be explored and implemented as a result of the whole. As the world is currently going through a chaotic moment, we need more than ever people who fill the niche of supporting others—giving action to alleviate the stress in the lives around them, seeing past differences. The condition of being different is what we have in common; it’s a reminder of those things which we innately share (being alive, breathing, feeling, thinking, hearts beating). The illumination of the whole. Call it reconstitution, rehabilitation, soul weaving… It’s alive and beginning to appear in the hearts and minds of this fresh crop of upstarts—community-minded people daring to make a positive difference to balance the challenges that would otherwise find radio silence.
Tressa Prichard is the heart and mind behind Wood River Center for Hope (WRCH). She has stepped into a community role of activation to increase the net emanation of love and coherence with a focus on families and the often unseen effects that derive from illness, not only to the one who is ill but to those surrounding, supporting and simply engaging with them. It’s one thing to be ill and face it yourself, but the myriad effects on those around you can be difficult to measure and to duly find solutions for addressing the overall healing and reshuffling of the social deck that must take place.
Prichard grew up in and around Sun Valley with family who have lived here for generations. She is deeply aware of the community-minded group who call Sun Valley home. In her own words, “Our Valley is a family in itself.”
Prichard has experienced it—the nameless, faceless wall of the medical-industrial complex. As a cancer survivor herself, Prichard scaled that wall in hopes of alleviating the social and community isolation she felt after going through therapy. She was diagnosed at the young age of 36 and has learned the meandering routes of post-trauma, the unseen, unheard and challenging-to-speak-about issues that arise in such a life-altering situation. After finishing treatment, she simply needed a support group.
“One of the hardest things is you don’t want to talk about it… you know, not because you’re sad but because you’ve had enough… it’s been your life for maybe years and sometimes you just want to be around people who relate but not go through ‘the talk’.” Sit, read a book, talk about the news, it’s not avoidance she refers to but simply feeling free, as a regular person, and yes, not reliving things, not out of fear but out of healthy distraction.
Although she was treated in Southern California, Pritchard lives in Sun Valley and, after arriving home, sought a support group. People who could relate, not necessarily to rehash, relive, or compare illness, but simply to be. Reading a book, having a massage (cancer is painful!), a Reiki session, Body Coherence Therapy—these types of holistic spiritual and physical simulations can be much needed and simple methods she felt would help her rehabilitate on a spiritual and emotional level. St. Luke’s denied her, as she wasn’t a current patient. Perhaps they don’t have the resources. Yet ,current patients can go to support… so maybe they do but the gate is closed for those who aren’t immediately being treated. They offered checkups and on one call simply referred her to Hospice almost as though they didn’t understand her quandary.
That was the tipping point. Prichard saw a need to address the issue and, not based on financial gain but the understanding that there are unseen forces at play, she developed her plan.
The Road to Somewhere
Prichard is extraordinarily humble—“This is absolutely not about me. I want to stay in the background”—providing a nexus point for the community to take care of its own. People are connected andm as Priichard saysm “Cancer doesn’t discriminate…and with the kiddosm they don’t know exactly what’s going onm they just feel bad.” Prichard is especially interested in helping families with children who are diagnosed. But along with that the entire family is hurting and in need of healing, regardless who has the illness.
When Social Media Works
Prichard’s first post was on August 29 of 2023 and she has since received countless emails and quality information on people who might otherwise not speak up due to shame, guilt and the insane, sociopathic social mindset where people are expected not to ask for help, especially not emotionally and definitely not financially. This is backward thinking in a community. We help each other not because it benefits us but because it’s the right thing to do and indeed does benefit the whole.
Perhaps think of the world as a very complicated but joyous party. Do you want anyone crying in the corner? It takes all types in this world and we all play our unique roles—everyone. Respect for other’s roles and well-being is the ultimate signifier of a high-trust, high-empathy community that functions in cohesion.
Hairdresser on Fire
As a working aesthetician and full-time charity founder, Prichard is busy. They’re working on getting her nonprofit status and hope to have this accomplished by the first quarter of 2024, with a functional physical Center created soon after. The Center would be a rejuvenation spot for people who need to step out to step in. Offering Reiki, massage, yoga, to name a few, along with healthy snacks, the Center would function as a hub for survivors—one of many needed to address the aching need we face as a society that neglects the unseen. Pick your philosophy. We all have our inner and outer worlds and sometimes they harmonize while other times they need a tuning fork to help remind the innate intelligence inside you what to do to get back on track. Our unseen yet absolutely sensed and felt issues are shunned by the vast majority of pop culture but seem to be making headway to come around as a very legitimate and shameless need that is to be addressed by this new crop of people—healers, if you will. We need rehabilitation centers for all manner of traumas inflicted by the greater wild world we inhabit. There is an absolute need for reintegrating back into society, the workforce, family, after experiencing trauma, and it is now being addressed.
The ultimate goal of the current drive is to provide for three families whose children have been diagnosed with cancer. As social creatures, we’re coming up on one of the most pressurized social events of the year—Christmas. To some, it’s a piece of fruitcake! Family, eggnog, Uncle Charlie… To others in the community, it’s a time of intense stress and anxiety, whether due to finances or lack of family or, in these cases, cancer. It plays on every single person around the one diagnosed.
Alleviating at least some of the burden of the holiday onslaught gives the family a brief respite from peer pressure, however slight or seemingly inconsequential it is. The very fabric of American society is held in place by, among other things, the holidays.
“I think of it as we’re supporting the individual and family as a whole. The family goes through so much, as well, and they have to keep a smiling face, move on, move around the person diagnosed and deal with things while still dealing with their own problems… it’s so much.” Prichard’s philosophy is that anything she can do to vent the pressure at all is worth doing.
In addition to using donations to help the families, Prichard offers chemo-kits including Biotene toothpaste, lap blankets, socks, chapstick and a plethora of provisions you might not know you need until you need to get up and go to the store. She’s been there, she took notes, and now she wants to help the community help itself.
“I feel like it’s not me doing it. I want the community involved.” Prichard says, knowing how important community is to everyone in it. She has a financial target for each family but when donations don’t cover it ,she and her husband do. This is a selfless pursuit although, ironically, there is a positive feedback, not even necessarily to her by the family of the afflicted but by the community and people adjacent. Imagine the difference in how a neighbor who’s feeling low, shameful and hurting acts during a quick chat in the grocery line versus when said neighbor is in high spirits. SIMPLE! It’s so simple it’s almost unexplainable. It’s a ripple in the fabric of space and community that emanates and provides the foundation for our daily lives. It’s a beautiful way to becoming a bright, fun, happy human being.
So far Tressa Prichard has found a Santa to deliver the gifts, with Jessica Jean taking photographs. She’s still accepting donations to reach her goal for each of the families.
Now is the time to share, and it’s always time to share, but in these pressurized social situations, we have even more of a reason to connect.
Find Wood River Center for Hope on Facebook or call Tressa Prichard at (951) 401-3440.