Asheville, NC · A 501(c)(3) since 2014

Honoring the past. Investing in the future.

Traditions Acupuncture Foundation provides acupuncture care to the medically underserved, creates educational opportunities for students entering the profession, and supports the growth of acupuncture itself.

Support Our Work Our Story

Built on a legacy of advocacy begun by pioneering women in Western North Carolina.

People in ceremonial robes smiling together in a doorway — Supporting students entering the profession.

2014Founded as a 501(c)(3)

Since 2013Free weekly community clinic

15–20People treated each week

3Student scholarship funds

Our Mission

Three ways we serve the medicine

Traditions Acupuncture Foundation is a 501(c)(3) whose mission is to provide acupuncture care to the medically underserved, provide educational opportunities for students entering the acupuncture profession, and support the growth of the acupuncture profession.

Serving the Underserved

We fund acupuncture and Chinese medical care for those for whom it isn't otherwise accessible — including a free weekly community clinic in downtown Asheville.

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Supporting Education

Funding scholarships for tomorrow's leaders — supporting students on their path to becoming leaders in the profession.

See our scholarships →

Growing the Profession

Advancing the field of Chinese medicine — from the advocacy that helped form North Carolina's licensing board to supporting its work today.

How we help →

Two women embracing and smiling at a gathering, a display of Chinese herbs behind them — A legacy carried forward, together.

Our Story

A legacy of advocacy

The Traditions Acupuncture Foundation, founded in 2014, builds on a legacy of advocacy for the acupuncture profession begun by a team of powerful women in Western North Carolina.

1985
Mary Cissy Majebe opened the Chinese Acupuncture and Herbology Clinic in Asheville — when the profession was just beginning to establish roots in the U.S. It grew from a humble space on Merrimon Avenue to a beautiful Victorian in Montford, where the main office remains today.
1990
The clinic was raided by the state of North Carolina and 1,700 patient charts were seized; Cissy Majebe was investigated for practicing medicine without a license. Her litigation ultimately resulted in the formation of the North Carolina Acupuncture Licensing Board.
2003
These pioneering women founded Daoist Traditions College of Chinese Medical Arts — with Junie Norfleet, Cissy Majebe, Rachel Novakowski and Patricia Bernarding — now a premier school of acupuncture and Chinese medicine.
2014
Junie Norfleet, Cissy Majebe and Rachel Novakowski founded the Traditions Acupuncture Foundation, with Junie Norfleet as its first Executive Director. We continue their work to this day.

Growing the Profession

Supporting the growth of Chinese medicine

One of our goals is to support the growth of the Chinese medical profession. Public perception and understanding of the field has changed dramatically over the last century.

Our most recent initiative was to support the North Carolina Acupuncture Licensing Board.

Help us continue this work

A foundation-supported initiative

North Carolina Acupuncture Licensing Board

The licensing board traces its origins to the litigation that followed the 1990 raid on the founding clinic — advocacy that built the infrastructure the profession needed to survive and grow in North Carolina. Supporting its work continues that mission today.

“ The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Lao Tzu

Support Our Work

Your donation can help support our goals

Every gift helps us provide care to the medically underserved and open doors for the next generation of Chinese medicine practitioners.

Make a Donation See Our Scholarships