In 2007 Tara began her journey into the field of manual therapy, health and wellness. This was a change in the direction of her career, but something that had been a long time in coming.  As a Massage Therapist and Manual Osteopath, her love of learning has expanded to encompass Wellness Coaching.  Over the years she has continued to expand her learning with a variety of seminars, readings and courses to enhance her clinical practice. 

With a background in Business, which includes a focus on human resources, health and safety, education & training, and curriculum development, she has always been focused on helping individuals to grow and continue their personal learning in life. She began teaching as a young adult, working as a swimming instructor providing Red Cross lessons to children and young adults.  

Working with clients and helping them to feel well and return to pre injury abilities is a main focus of her practice and she has especially enjoyed working with Pre / Postnatal mom's and their infants teaching Infant Massage in her practice. Her work experience in the field of manual therapy has ranged from treatment in chiropractic and physiotherapy clinics to a private practice, specializing in Manual Osteopathy assessment and treatments and Advanced Orthopedic Massage Therapy (in Alberta only) for patients of all ages. 

Working with the Wellness Association, Tara is able to continue working in the health industry, providing support to our wellness members and practitioners nationwide.  An understanding of health and wellness helps her connect our services providers to our wellness members and her business background provides ongoing support to our practitioners online. 

When she is not coaching, teaching or treating clients in her clinic, Tara can be found enjoying life with her two busy boys!  They love hockey, skateboarding, hiking and swimming, so you are sure to find them outdoors enjoying the beauty of Alberta and BC!

Meet Jenn, our dedicated Fundraising Coordinator extraordinaire!

With a passion for organizing, scheduling, and team management, Jenn ensures that our fundraising efforts run smoothly and efficiently. Whether it's coordinating events, managing administrative tasks, or providing guidance to our team members, she does it all with precision and enthusiasm.

But that's not all—outside of work, Jenn channels her creativity into paper crafting and art. As a talented artisan, she creates beautiful mixed media art in her spare time, infusing each piece with her unique style and flair. And her passion doesn't stop there—Jenn also shares her love for art by teaching inspiring paper classes at scrapbook store in Courtenay BC, igniting creativity in others and fostering a sense of joy and fulfillment.

With her dedication to both fundraising coordination and artistic expression, Jenn brings a perfect blend of organization and creativity to our team, making her an invaluable asset to our cause.

It’s been a long and windy road for Brandon Galarneau to find his way into his role as Neurological Wellness Association’s fundraising manager, but now that he’s found it, it’s a match made in heaven.

“Starting with the Neurological Wellness Association was—I’m not a religious person—but it was kind of like a ‘hand of god’ thing,” he says. 

Galarneau had just spent two years recovering from an injury he sustained while working as a medic in the oil fields in Alberta. 

He drove his truck into a moose—or rather, the moose ran into him; “he jumped off a big snow pile towards me and I just hit him.” The accident left him with an arm that has never fully recovered, even after four surgeries, physio and everything else the doctors could try. 

“It’s as good as it’s going to get,” he says.

Galarneau was selling appliances at Sears, “bored out of his mind,” when a friend offered him a position manning an air monitoring system in the oil field in Alberta. He never looked back. The next 11 years saw him training to become a medic and travelling all over the world. “The amount of things I did while I was in the oil field is a long story because I did a ton of different things,” he says. He’s worked in places like Albania, where he spent a year installing a CATS (critical area transmission system) in oil fields there, and South Dakota which is where he was when he reconnected on Facebook with his wife, a high school sweetheart whom he now lives with in Kelowna. 

“I’m a happy family man—currently ‘house husband’,” Galarneau says as he’s housebound for COVID-19.

Being a medic in the rough-and-tumble world of the northern oil fields can land you in some harrowing situations, Galarneau says; flying moose notwithstanding. Which is why his accident in 2015 meant an end to his career in the oil fields—no more running to attend to sudden catastrophes and save lives in the field.

So Galarneau had to recalibrate and go searching for a new career path that would be a good fit. He tried a few different things that weren’t right, and even accepted a position that saw him driving to Vancouver the day that Eric Halstrom, founder of the Wellness Association, called him up about a job.

It turned out to be the perfect job that Galarneau was searching for. He was able to meet up with Halstrom in Vancouver that day, and started his new job with the company the following Monday.

I would like to take some time today to share my story. I hope it will allow you to understand a bit about who I am and my motivation for creating Wellness Association.

I am a pretty typical Cascadian fellow. I live in Vancouver, enjoy outdoor pursuits, dabble in spirituality, and make delicious homemade beer. The things that matter the most to me are sharing love, having an adventure, and making a difference in the world around me. I have basic education, a fair amount of life experience, and have been infected with the entrepreneurial spirit.

Professionally I oversee the daily operations of NWA. I also formulate nutritional products for people living with a variety of heath issues and own a small enterprise that offers home delivery of small-scale food products.

In 2003, my mother was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease. Upon learning of the diagnosis I promised I would do my utmost to help find her a cure. While this promise has always been difficult to fulfill it began my journey in health services.

My experience in nutritional science began in 2008 when I was part of an observational study. Our goal was to create nutritional formulas that would treat the symptoms of Huntington’s and other neurological conditions. Over a two-year period, we were able to identify myriad nutrients and technologies that held value for people like my mother. At the time, I was astonished by how many options were overlooked. We put a number of those options into practice. The resulting changes we observed in people’s health were significant. I quickly developed an affinity for natural medicine and felt a duty to share our experience with as many people as possible.

By the summer of 2012, we had thirty participents in our study who wanted to share their stories. So, we started posting information online. The content of our posts were personal/professional testimony, scientific research papers, and the constituent ingredients that made up our formulas. Unfortunately, combining these elements within a publication caused us to unknowingly violate health claim regulations. The details of our entanglement with legislation are for another post. The simple reality is that we did not have the financial ability to proceed on our path. This created a moral dilemma. We had people who were benefiting from our ideas. But, no permanent way to help. We needed a solution.

Our study included six physicians. Their roles were to observe the participants or to provide service. This group consisted of four Natural Doctors, a Massage Therapist, and an Acupuncturist. We decided to officially join those professionals with the people in our study. This link formed the basis of N.W.A., creating an independently funded organization that brought attention to health services that are not typically promoted by mainstream practitioners.

During the last three years, we have been growing the network while creating the infrastructure to support it. Currently, we have 398 members. 132 of those are professionals members. Collectively we provide access and funding to thousands of services from Vancouver Island to Ottawa. I am proud to say that the system of care we envisioned has become a reality.

I would like to grow our membership internationally in the coming years. The power of our service increases with the diversity of its professionals. I see a distinct advantage for members when they can seek advice from a global community through our Ask A Practitioner tool. Furthermore, membership will be open to any private care practitioner as we expand our service base. I think the idea that someone in Burnaby can receive a life-changing consultation from a physician in Delhi, or vice-a-versa, which is paid for by membership dues around the world is pretty neat. It will be a lot of fun bringing this idea to its full potential.

That is the end of the beginning of my tale. In closing, I would like to say that I’m just a guy with some interesting ideas who wanted to help his mom. The impact of this concept will be determined by the ingenuity of people we collaborate with. Enough participation will lead to many positive experiences in our world. By working together we will help people live healthier, happier lives.

If what I have said here resonates with you - join the quest. I promise fair rations and plenty of adventure on the path to health equality.

After a lifetime spent helping people as a Pentecostal pastor, Marge Ellens left the church to work at a corner store for a change of pace. But the calling to help others did not stay quiet for long.  

A table posted outside her store drew her attention, and when she learned the Wellness Association’s mandate of offering complementary and alternative therapies, she was intrigued.

After her own bout with a mystery illness which was only healed after she consulted a Chinese medicine doctor, she was convinced of the value of alternative health practitioners.

“I was quite sick for a while there, it was natural medicine that helped me,” she says. And this combination of her belief in the cause with her lifelong call to help others is what makes her such a passionate fundraiser for the Wellness Association.

“People interact with you based on your energy, the way you present yourself,” she says. “I think you really have to believe in what you’re doing.”

Belief has been the driving force of Downing’s life since she graduated bible college in her early twenties. At 25, after a spell at the Gospel Mission in Vancouver, she was brought on as the first Pentecostal pastor to be hired by the Canadian military, serving air cadets and adults at CFB Penhold in Alberta; “I opened the door for the Pentecostal movement in the military.” 

Downing went on to hold the rank of Captain, and worked as a chaplain as well as being administration officer and supply officer of various squadrons between Alberta and B.C. She was in the military a total of 12 years. 

Downing also worked at Bowden Institution, a medium security jail in Alberta. She says the experience was “very fulfilling at times and very stressful at times. I enjoyed working with prisoners and seeing them grow in their faith and grow as a whole person and start realizing that some of the things they were doing just wasn’t the way to go.” She also owned and operated a commercial cleaning business in the Lower Mainland. Although she has retired from the ministry, Downing has found a new ministry of sorts in fundraising. “It gives me fulfillment, I love helping people, that’s what my life is about—helping people.” She has two daughters and a son, and one grandchild. She now lives in Red Deer where her latest pastime is painting rocks and gifting them to her friends.  

100% of every dollar donated online goes directly to supporting a person in need. 

We currently need to raise $300,000 to support people who were locked out of funding for their health service due to COVID-19. 

See the list of the people we are currently supporting.

For corporate or large donations, please contact us directly at:

info@wellnessassociation.org

All donations are tax deductible Canadian Registered Charity #780667085 RR0001