Help us to help local Seniors and their families this holiday season.

Beginning DECEMBER 1 thru DECEMBER 22 we are collecting holiday food items for Senior families. Each day a holiday meal food item will be collected in our office and on DECEMBER 22 we will deliver boxes filled with your donations! Here is the daily list (and feel free to bring any additional items)

REVERSE ADVENT CALENDAR:

12/1- STUFFING MIXES

12/2- CANNED CRANBERRIES, VEGGIES OR SOUPS

12/3- BOXED SIDES (IE: MAC & CHEESE)

12/6- PACKAGED NUTS

12/7- HERBS/SPICES, CONDIMENTS

12/8- CANNED, HAR FRUIT AND/OR PIE FILLING

12/9- JELLO, PUDDING OR DESSERT MIXES

12/10- PIE CRUSTS/PIES

12/13- CANNED/BOTTLED JUICES

12/14- FRESH POTATOES

12/15- BREADS

12/16- FRESH VEGGIES

12/17- CHEESES AND CRACKERS

12/20-EGGS

12/21- FRESH MEATS (HAM, TURKEY

#morgantonnc #BurkeCountyNC #seniorsmatter

I had opened Rivers Edge Physical Therapy just over 11 yrs. ago with great success. The business had grown from just myself to three full time therapists and an office manager. We all stayed remarkably busy treating members of our community and helping them to achieve a healthier and more active lifestyle, but I often wondered if we could do more to improve our patients overall wellness. In July of 2019, I was faced with the opportunity to add another therapist which would put the business at full staffing potential, but the physical space was too limited to add further services. There was an empty space directly next to mine, that used to be occupied by my friends, Dave and Phyllis Wright who had a bicycle shop. It was a wide-open space and it would require quite a bit of renovating to make it useful for our purposes. After much deliberation, I felt that now was the time to expand our vision and add Rivers Edge Health + Wellness.

That was January 2020! Big vision, big dreams, big plans. We all know all too well that life is what happens when we make other plans. Mid - January, I hired an accomplished MFR therapist, sure to be an asset to our team and she would be available to join us in June…. just in time. I was excited; I was going to be able to offer Myofascial Release Intensive programs, workshops to enhance overall wellness and an Infrared Sauna with all its health benefits.

So, with a leap of faith I decided to expand and renovate the additional space. I received several quotes for the work to be done, all of which turned out to be out of budget and I was feeling discouraged. Thankfully, after sharing my woes with my landlords, they agreed to do the build out themselves and we would work together toward the outcome. In the end, it proved to be much less expensive.

As with many things in life, not everything goes as planned. Work was to begin the following day when I was hit with the first interruption to my plan. One of my employees announced that she was resigning after 4 yrs. together. She envisioned herself on another path in life and was ready to pursue her own dreams. I could not blame her, as I was actively pursuing my own dreams, but I was taken back. It was a blow that was difficult to get through, but I was determined. We could still make it work with the staff we had and would pursue filling that position.

Excitement built quickly as walls were formed creating a whole new look to the space and daily decisions had to be made about details that I really had no idea of like where do you want outlets and switches, spacing of ceiling tiles, lights, and speakers. Those pesky little details. As things were beginning to take shape, we started hearing more and more about COVID-19 and stay at home orders. Patients began canceling appointments due to possible exposure. There was a lot of confusion as to the proper way to handle this given the close nature of what we do here, but I honestly thought that we, as a country, would be able to get a plan together and minimize the risks. As we know, that did not happen, and my staff became concerned about the potential spread. Although we are deemed an essential business, we opted to close for approximately 6 weeks except for a few Worker’s Comp patients that were nearing the end of their treatment. My other therapist opted for unemployment and I was able to pay my Office Manager a minimal salary even though we were not open for regular business. During that time, we ramped up our usual safety protocols, cleaning routines and ordered PPE. Once reopened, we started scheduling our least vulnerable patients and eventually transitioned to a full caseload.

The SBA Paycheck Protection Program really came in handy and I appreciated the federal government stepping in to help. I did all the proper calculations and was eligible for an amount sufficient to cover payroll and rent for the 2 months. To this day I cannot fathom how other small businesses' 2-month payroll can be millions of dollars, but we got what we needed (nowhere even close to that amount…lol). My next task with regards to this would be figuring out how to get that loan forgiven, which to this day has not happened due to red tape.

The day finally arrived when we would officially open the walls separating the two spaces and join them together. It was a big step toward the vision. We managed to keep some plastic up to reduce construction dirt making its way into the Physical Therapy side and to add a little mystery and interest about the new space. Curiosity got the better of a few people as I caught them peeking around the plastic.

The month of July brought more decisions, especially paint colors. We needed to stay consistent with the color scheme since the 2 spaces were opened to one another. Every weekend was spent painting walls, trim and doors. Priming, 1st coat, 2nd coat, then change your mind and two more coats. It seemed never ending. We worked into the late evening on many occasions. As I was painting, she was building. She built the waiting area bench, the bathroom vanity, the quiet room countertop, the folding mat table for the exercise area and installed the tile floor of the bathroom. She is incredibly talented. Next came the trips to IKEA and the tedious task of furniture and cabinet assembly. I am not sure how I survived that, but I am sure that I am a better woman for it. Everything was coming together in splendid fashion. The day we assembled the Infrared Sauna reignited my passion and excitement. I could not wait to offer this service to our community. The fact that it was July and in the 90’s outside, might be a deterrent for the sauna, but I didn’t care. The health benefits it affords would be totally worth it.

The big day arrived, all equipment was installed, work was completed, and we were ready to open the doors. I took my staff to lunch and spent a Friday afternoon brainstorming what types of programs we wanted to offer, pricing for different services and things still needed to make the working space complete. We decided on Sauna packages and MFR Intensive programming and pricing as well as workshops to offer. Even though the construction was complete, there was still much to be decided. On the forefront, the most pressing question was how do we keep our clientele safe. Workshops would have to be limited to allow social distancing and exercise area equipment would need to be cleaned between patients. We ordered and placed extra sanitizing wipes in the exercise area for ease of use. Even the office waiting area needed to be routinely cleaned down to the pens that people would use to fill out paperwork. It was an adjustment, but we were able to make it all work.

The exercise area got immediate use from PT patients and the sauna started to attract some of those attending PT. We created a Facebook page to share information about the services we wished to offer. We did a lot of research as to additional benefits of Infrared Sauna in cancer treatment, immune boosting, combating menopausal symptoms and seasonal depression... just to name a few. We created a few inspirational/wellness type posts to keep our audience engaged, but we needed to start building our marketing strategies to reach the larger community. We are actively pursuing these today.

January 2021, there are still stumbling blocks and we are looking to add staff to offer the full potential of services that I was envisioning. We placed ads for additional staff, and we are encouraged to find the right fit to join our team.

All in all, I would have to say that our opening has been a soft one. People are still cautious about being around others and we are still working on how to best serve our community. I am still encouraged. I am a firm believer in “if you build it, they will come”. It might take a little time, extra effort, and faith, but I believe a year of planning, building, discovery and learning will pay off. We are ready to begin the next phase of this journey…. hope to see you all there.

we will reopen 10/23/2024

BEST IN BURKE 2022

INTRODUCING THERMOGRAPHY @ RIVERS EDGE HEALTH + WELLNESS

WE HAVE EXCITING NEWS!

REVERSE ADVENT CALENDAR DONATION BOX

BEST OF BURKE 2021 WINNER!

A Year to Remember……Expanding through a Pandemic.

Acupuncture Service At Rivers Edge Health + Wellness

BEST OF BURKE 2020 WINNER!

We are expanding

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