- (215) 266-5757
- Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, PA 19118
- Compassionate Alternative Medicine Associates
Compassionate Alternative Medicine Associates
of Chestnut Hill
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- (215) 266-5757
- Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, PA 19118
Compassionate Alternative Medicine Associates
and Northwest Center for Food As Medicine
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Learn About CAMA's History
Elise Rivers started CAMA Wellness Center over 15 years ago. Learn how Elise’s and her staff’s passion for whole-hearted wellness has helped thousands of people become more healthy and vibrant.
Long ago, we were called Moon River Acupuncture. See pictures about our unique history…
Read about how our mission has poured out our front door and impacted our community.
Green construction, supplies and energy-efficiency are just some of the ways our building is an integral part of our mission.
Our History
In January 2005, Moon River Acupuncture, owned by Elise Rivers, opened its doors!
Located on the 3rd floor of a doctor’s office on E. Sedgwick Street, part of the Partners in Wellness group, we were Philly’s first Walk-in, Community Acupuncture Clinic.
Here are some of our first advertisements:
By 2007, we were open four days a week, and had introduced the sliding scale:
In our early years, we treated hundreds of patients for a flat fee of $25. Eventually, our business outgrew this space, and we went searching for a street-level, store front location – another first for community acupuncture in Philadelphia!
CAMA finds a new home!
In 2010, the practice moved to 6782 Germantown Avenue and was renamed Community Acupuncture of Mt. Airy (CAMA).
The new location was an old bank that had been vacant for 7 years and desperately needed rehabilitation!
On March 29, 2010 we opened Community Acupuncture of Mt. Airy at our new location!
CAMA Community Acupuncture closes 12/31/2022
Because we were unable to find a successor to keep the community center going, we sadly had to close the Germantown storefront at the end of 2022.
And had a sale on January 7th, 2023.
Our Values
Affordability
Our focus has always been to provide high quality, professional acupuncture. We offer affordable treatment plans that enable you to receive precisely the support you need at a substantial discount off of one-time treatments. Read more about our various treatment plans here.
Previous
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Beauty
We believe that healing occurs on many levels, and this includes providing a clean, peaceful and beautiful space that supports and fosters your body’s innate healing abilities. Our space has been created very deliberately and our attention is always placed on these aspects.
Effectiveness
Acupuncture has been used to treat chronic and various acute conditions for thousands of years; we have reason to have great confidence in its effectiveness, provided the patient commits to their treatment plan.
Resources
If we don’t think we can help you, we will tell you so, and refer you to one of the many providers, including holistic doctors, who we think could help, using our network developed over 15 years.
Community
We have the word “community” in our name, because we are about fostering and being a part of the community we live in. To that end, we have contributed in multiple ways to the betterment of our community after moving to Germantown Avenue and rehabbing a vacant commercial building. One of our first decisions was to plant a tree in the empty tree pit outside our building. Today that tree provided a great deal of beauty and shade. Next we convinced a number of other businesses nearby to invest in façade improvements, which greatly enhanced the look and feel of this commercial section of Mt. Airy.
You can watch this video to see before and after photos of the block.
Here is a list of our contributions to making Mt. Airy a great place to live, work and play:
Give While Receiving
Last but not least, we have an informal program we call Give While Receiving at CAMA to foster the greater good. To that end, every year CAMA donates thousands of dollars toward 3 local, national and international causes, as chosen by our patients. In this way, patient fees result in giving to causes they would like to benefit each time they come in for treatment. See our display in the waiting room for this year’s charities.
Out 2020 Recipients:
Local
Never Surrender Hope
is dedicated to those suffering with the disease of addiction and homelessness. They advocate to meet basic needs while empowering their clients to seek treatment.
National
Nutrition Facts
is a strictly non-commercial, science-based public service, providing free updates on the latest in nutrition research. Donations to this nonprofit charity support the True Health Initiative, a global voice for lifestyle as medicine, the antidote to the major chronic diseases of our time.
International
SKY Schools
is an evidence-based social/emotional learning program dedicated to providing youth with the skills and knowledge to achieve all around health and success, including a healthy body, a healthy mind and a healthy lifestyle.
As a 9 year board member of the Mt. Airy Business Improvement District (MBID), many volunteer hours spent restoring beauty to the Mt. Airy commercial corridor, including heading the committee that placed 100 flower baskets on Germantown Ave, installing 30 sidewalk planters, as well as initiating the first pocket park at Germantown and Carpenter Lane. Cumulatively, these efforts resulted in winning the award for Best of the MBID in 2015. See the video here.
Developed and sponsored a show about the history of East Mt. Airy in 2018, educating residents about the architectural heritage around them. Proceeds from sold out shows donated to Historic Germantown, East Mt. Airy Neighbors and Mt. Airy Learning Tree. This show is 1.5 hours long and can be accessed here.
Sustainability
The building that houses CAMA was completely remodeled in 2009-10. We knew it was important to create a space for healing that was as non-toxic as possible. Therefore we used only environmentally friendly water based paints and stains, and purchased non-off gassing carpet. We use only non-toxic cleaning products as evaluated by the Environmental Working Group, sanitize our hands and wipe down surfaces with a non-toxic but highly effective germicidal, and recycle as much of our packaging and materials as we can.
We also use only high quality essential oils in our diffuser, to ensure that patients receive the health benefits from the inhalation of those oils. Finally, CAMA’s heating and cooling system is a state of the art energy efficient system; air filters are changed regularly to ensure clean and fresh air in the space.
CAMA Media
We’ve been featured in numerous press and media shows. Learn more about us and our values below.
Learn About CAMA
2018 Mt. Airy Holistic Health Fair
Maria Fanelli interviews Elise Rivers of CAMA Wellness
Elise Rivers "Startup Story Slam"- June 2016
Elise Rivers Wins Best of Bid 2015
The Not So Hidden Agenda
