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Advocating to change the face of healthcare with groundbreaking alternative and integrative treatments to improve health and well-being for  all.

About Affinity Healthcare Advocates (AHA)

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Our story began September 11, 2001

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Anne Marie Principe was walking to her small business on the morning of 9/11 when the first plane hit the towers. Sebastian Raspanti was at his firehouse in Queens New York, when he and his brother firefighters responded to the call for all emergency personnel.

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Anne Marie was in the street when the South Tower began to fall, Sebastian and his team had just emerged from the Brooklyn Battery tunnel.

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Both lived through the collapse and the cloud of ash that rained down. The next day, Anne Marie returned to her office in the smoke and dust to try to save her company. Sebastian worked long shifts on the pile at Ground Zero, searching through the still burning rubble, often without the proper equipment and protection. They returned every day to do what they could to help their community and bring back to life the NYC they loved. The EPA emphatically stated the air was safe to breathe. That was sadly, untrue.

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Not only were Anne Marie and Sebastian traumatized by their experiences, but they also became gravely ill. No one would believe they had become sick from the dust. They were turned away by doctors who had no idea how to treat such catastrophic chemical exposure. Both were broken and lost, desperate to be well again. They found their way to a special clinic using a unique protocol to cleanse the body of toxins. There they met and spent every day for the next few months, slowly healing and reclaiming their lives.

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The city, state and federal government refused to acknowledge their exposure, or take responsibility for their care. Through testimony from City Hall to Congress, Anne Marie, Sebastian and a team of responders advocated for research and care and were part of the push for federal healthcare for the 9/11 community. They helped raise millions of dollars to treat those impacted by the dust.

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It also launched a journey to explore functional medicine and find groundbreaking new treatments. 22 years later, they are part of a movement to change the face of healthcare not just in our nation, but globally.

 

Data  proves utilizing Functional Medicine treatments are effective strategies for lowering the overall cost of healthcare.

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Our Work

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We were part of the Jon Stewart team who fought for The Never Forget the Heroes Act, on Capitol Hill. It is the second largest healthcare bill ever passed in our nation.

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We have joined the VMHLC  a coalition of veterans and 9/11 responders to advocate for The Breakthrough Therapies Act. A groundbreaking bill that reschedules psychedelics for research and development of new mental health treatments. 

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We are proud to announce our collaboration with  The World Health Innovation Summit (WHIS) to bring together partners in agriculture, environment, and healthcare to create a global universal change we call Psychosocial medicine.

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We are a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization.

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