Sophie Sonnenfeld Photo
Owner Julie Robbins with professionals and clients at the Well for Women.
When Susan Francis moved back to Connecticut from Pennsylvania, her husband bought her a spa package.
“Wow,” Francis remarked. “I wish I could work somewhere like that!”
“Well, why can’t you?” her husband asked.
It turns out she can — and now does.
Francis, a special education teacher, began treating autism with massage therapy. Her massage work “spiraled from there.”
On Sunday a grand opening “party on the deck” took place for an expansion of the Well for Women, a women’s wellness co-working space inside a former factory complex at 495 Blake St. at the foot of West Rock. The event celebrated several other new businesses as well at a Professional Center at the Well, including nutritional, midwifery, and photography services.
Sunday’s celebration.
Starting this summer, Susan Francis will be the only massage therapist for infants in the New Haven area. In her 45-minute group sessions, Francis teaches parents massage techniques to calm their newborns.
Currently, Francis works with about three families at a time. Mmost of her clients are from New Haven. Francis said she is “honored that the parents trust me so deeply to work with their infants” and especially loves “the environment and community at the Well.” Francis said she “wants to help parents find ways to engage with their children.”
A Well Grows, Deepens
Expanded space at the Well for Women.
Julie Robbins, a massage therapist for 24 years, opened the Well for Women in February after needing more space at a massage center she runs on West Elm Street. Robbins owns what are now two co-working spaces and sublets them to independent businesses.
Robbins had been running a free breastfeeding support group, which is led by breastfeeding expert Irene Cullough. Robbins said the large demand inspired her to use the new space for similar support groups. In the new space, Robbins attracted a birth tribe, circle of midwifery, Healthcore Nest Nutrition, and Sterling Photography. Robbins had a doula when she was pregnant, but said she wishes she had a space like this with such an array of professionals when she had her children.
Dr. Wendy Farnen Price.
Physical therapist and founder of Healthcore Lifestyle Medicine Dr. Wendy Farnen Price will be practicing in the expanded space at the Well for Women starting this summer. Price will work with two incoming nutritionists at the center and plans to work in conjunction with other professionals at the center focusing on ways to promote general healthcare through diet and stress reduction. Price said the methods she employs with lifestyle medicine are “less invasive and more effective than many other methods including some surgeries and medications” and even added that some forms of cancer can be prevented through leading a healthier lifestyle. Price said the most important thing for new mothers to focus on is self care through stress reduction, a good diet, and exercise.
Though a majority of Price’s clients at the Well will be women, she will continue to work with men in group classes. Price also runs sessions through telehealth, where she video conferences with clients who can’t make it to health centers in person. She encourages her clients to form their own goals, asking them to reflect on “what matters to me, and not what’s the matter with me.”
New Sterling Photography office.
Shea Wordell, a Middletown-based infant and family photographer for Sterling Photography, is opening a second location at the Well for Women. Wordell designs the wardrobes for photoshoots, ordering and making clothing for pregnant mothers, infants, and their families. Wordell has closets packed with costumes, and headbands for photoshoots at the new office and said it’s important for families to get these photos because “before you know it the little ones are off to college and it’s good to have these memories from the photographs forever.”
Water-themed massage room.
The original Well for Women space is complete with a tea station, elegant cushioned waiting room, and plenty of natural light. It includes three massage rooms with “water,” “fire,” and “forrest” themes, and an old fireplace transformed into an ornate waiting room sofa.
Sterling Photography photo on the wall.
The Well for Women will now hold meetings for yoga in the main room and shares some entrance space with the Elm City Montessori school next door. Robbins commented on the irony of the building history, “It’s funny, this was a factory that polluted the river and then stood vacant, but now it has turned into a place that provides community wellness.”