Click on question to be taken to answer
1. Who are you and what is this project about?
2. Can I buy some of your products?
3. Can you ship your products to me?
4. Can I donate to your project?
5. If I donate will you send me some products?
6. Where can I find your products?
7. I went there and it was out of stock! Hook me up!
8. How many people are running the project?
9. What is devil’s club and what does devil’s club salve do?
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1. Who are you and what is this project about?
Hi. My name is Mike. I’m just a guy who fell in love with a Tlingit woman 25 years ago and have since learned quite a few very cool things about indigenous life, community, spiritually, and love. My wife and I reside in Juneau Alaska. In Tlingit it’s called Haa Aaní which translates to “Our Homeland”. Moving here was simply transformative for me. I immediately fell in love with everything about this little town and everyone in it. Since we relocated here in early 2025, I’ve been making great strides in my healing journey, physically, mentally, and spiritually. I’m much more active now than I’ve ever been and being surrounded by such natural beauty has inspired me to help others reach goals along their own healing journeys.
This project is a way for me to do just that and give back to the community I love, while also participating in the stewardship of my family’s homeland. I have learned how to forage many useful foods and medicine from the local area. Learning how to harvest from nature respectfully and with great mindfulness is a wonderful privilege and skill that I am not taking for granted. There are a lot of community members who simply don’t have the physical ability to venture into the forest to harvest devil’s club, plantain, or yarrow, and the commercially available products are often financially out of reach. The goal of this project is to make sure every one of those people are provided for with products that are made in a way that aligns with their culture, 100% free.
2. Can I buy some of your products?
No. You can not purchase my products anywhere ever. Everything I’m making is 100% free of charge. If you find my products for sale somewhere, please contact me. You do not have to pay for my products. Ever.
3. Can you ship your products to me?
Not yet. I would love to have the budget to do shipping to folks. There are so many little local towns and villages here in southeast Alaska and getting to Juneau can be tough. Hopefully, when the project endowment gets big enough, I will be able to develop a shipping strategy. For now though, everything is coming out of my pocket and I want to put all of my available resources into crafting more products for the local community. Keep following the project to get updates about shipping in the future.
4. Can I donate to your project?
Yes. Every cent donated will go directly back into the project. I currently have very low overhead, and the only materials I need to purchase regularly for the project are olive oil, beeswax, tins, and mylar bags. Next month I’ll be upgrading the website and adding a custom domain name which will add small annual fees. Currently, you can donate via Venmo using @gratefulhealingproject. When the site gets upgraded, I’ll be able to add a fundraising plug-in that helps process other types of payments.
5. If I donate will you send me some products?
NO. IT’S FREE. If you can’t find my products at the locations listed please contact me at gratefulhealingproject@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to get you some from the next batch. No donation needed.
6. Where can I find your products?
For now, the best place to find my devil’s club salve is the Tlingit and Haida Community Health Vending Machine located just inside the Edward K. Thomas building at 410 Willoughby Avenue in downtown Juneau Alaska. Everything in the machine is free for the community.
7. I went there and it was out of stock! Hook me up!
As soon as the site is upgraded, I’ll be adding a waiting list for distribution events for the next batch. You’ll sign up to the list, and when the next batch is done, I’ll set aside enough to fulfill the list and contact everyone on the list with the dates and times of the events and meet you there! In the meantime, you can email your request to gratefulhealingproject@gmail.com and I will do my best to get you some.
8. How many people are running the project?
It’s mostly just me but my lovely wife helps a lot with harvesting and processing the products. To be fair, the project wouldn’t exist without the community. So many folks have help me get this amazing medicine to the people who need it most. With so many people facing unprecedented hardships in this incredibly hostile economy, it’s so important that we, as a community, come together to make sure they don’t fall through the cracks. That’s why I started this project, and I’m so appreciative of the way the community has embraced the idea. I’ve also received help with donations of materials including a printer, mylar bags and a ton of paper crafting supplies to help with labeling. Folks have also offered transportation for various errands associated with the project. All in all, It’s been amazing. Thank you so much to everyone, from the bottom off my heart.
9. What is devil’s club and what does devil’s club salve do?
Devil’s club is a plant that grows abundantly throughout southeast Alaska and is an important medicine for the indigenous cultures that live near it. Salve made from its inner bark is a powerful anti-inflammatory and pain reliever. You can read more about devil’s club at this blog post: About Devil’s Club.
The Grateful Healing Project 