Urban Sanctuary Takes Its Services to Those in Need

When furlough days started for Clarke County teachers a few years ago, Candice Courcy and Alan McArthur decided to help.

The owners of Urban Sanctuary Spa realized they could help relieve some of the stress that teachers were feeling. So Courcy asked her clients to nominate schools where the staff could most benefit from a massage or facial. Soon she was overwhelmed with letters.

She picked a school, packed up her massage table and supplies, and with two other massage therapists from Urban Sanctuary, worked her way through the knotted up bodies of some very tense teachers. More requests came, until Courcy was doing one or two "community outreach" events a week--and she had to cut back.

These days, Courcy tries to limit the offsite visits to one a month. She and two other staff members, often David Williams and Nina Patterson, have visited hospitals, senior centers, schools, non-profit offices. In a week or so, they will head to Madison County to work on teachers and staff from that school district.

It costs the spa to provide the service, "but it's a good experience for us," Courcy says. "People get up on that table and just melt. They really appreciate what we can do for them."

Last year, Urban Sanctuary staged 19 free events, giving away $7,900 worth of 10-minute massages, Courcy says. They don't go offsite just for giveaways. Sometimes a PTO will pay for every teacher who wants a manicure, pedicure or facial to have one. Or an office manager will pay for her staff to have 15-minute massages. Occasionally, Courcy will visit someone at his or her home.

With Mother's Day around the corner, as well as Teacher Appreciation Day and Nurse Appreciation Day, Courcy says they are booked up through the summer. But at the end of the summer it will be time to nominate a school for the next academic year. Or to make a pitch for how to spend the PTO money.

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