Longtime service provider named Berkeley’s Outstanding Woman of the Year

This March, co-founder and acupuncturist Hope McDonnell of our Monday night Youth Clinic was honored by the city of Berkeley as one of seven Outstanding Women of the year. As a close friend of Hope’s brings her on stage to accept the award, the audience is told a story about Hope’s early dedication in providing a service for others. At the age of 11, she laughed, Hope started babysitting for working moms and charged just a quarter per kid.

Today, Hope continues to volunteer treating homeless youth through acupuncture alongside supporting her non-profit United for Health, established in 1999 with the mission to design treatment and services specifically for youth with the littlest access to care. At a young age, Hope turned to alternative medicine like herbs and acupuncture due to her condition of rheumatic arthritis. Failing to find relief from Western medicinal approaches to her pain, Hope took her situation into her own hands. She explains, “I later decided after many nightmarish experiences with allopathic medicine to pursue Chinese medicine as a career, so that others wouldn’t have to go through the same pain and frustration with their symptoms or puzzling conditions.”

Hope has always taken an interest in working with and for younger age groups. “I started working with youth as a teenager and felt comfortable being with peers. Now I see a vibrancy and potential to move forward in youth, as well as an ability to bounce back or take on another view of things quicker than adults. It also keeps me young and open to new outlooks and excited to see their esteem grow and characters develop with experience,” Hope says.

Besides providing acupuncture services for free to youth at the Suitcase Clinic drop-in, Hope’s accomplishments over the years have been immeasurable. Back in 1980, she received a grant of $10,000 by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to start Berkeley’s first Farmers’ Market. At the time, Hope helped with the collective People’s Food System to provide easy access to fresh, organic food at affordable prices for the people. With the help of a few students from the university, she was able to get the market running, as well as bring that same access to the college campus by starting a collective food store called Coop Connections.

Hope’s social justice work extends beyond helping the community at home. Abroad, Hope found herself working with El Salvadorian refugees to stand up against the 1982 Nicaraguan war that resulted in the lost of innocent lives. “After living in a war zone, where there’s no water or electricity for days and little food to be had, your outlook on what is important changes dramatically,” she remembers.

Hope describes the first time she was taken to a mental institution by her mother when she was only 11. She explains, “I must have been complaining about not having enough or not getting my way or something and she wanted to show me another reality. It was brutal!” Before the sight of people “yelling into space and eating soap,” Hope learned at a young age that her situation at home was good—food, clothes, shelter, love—compared to many others out there.

Most of all, she encourages that service work is something everyone can be a part of. “Anybody who has a little spare time or money can reach out and connect with a cause, an underserved group, or even a neighbor in need. Unfortunately, you don’t have to look far to see others who could use some help these days. And making the connection keeps you stimulated and part of a network; gives you a sense of belonging.”