Catherine founded Integrative Healthcare Solutions (IHS), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, in 2019, and Michelle joined the organization in 2022. Together, they expanded its vision, developing programs, building community partnerships, and working to make whole-person healing more accessible to individuals and families facing mental health challenges, substance use, chronic illness, and overwhelming stress.

Their work was shaped by deeply personal experiences.

Catherine witnessed the devastating effects of addiction and mental health challenges on someone she loved, a struggle that ultimately ended in loss. The emotional toll contributed to her own experience with chronic illness and led her to search for answers beyond conventional approaches.

Michelle spent years advocating for a loved one living with substance use disorder while navigating fragmented systems, insurance barriers, limited treatment options, and long waitlists. Her own personal health crisis further deepened her understanding of how prolonged stress can affect the body, and how essential it is to support mental, physical, and emotional well-being together.

Although their journeys were different, they reached the same conclusion: people need more than symptom management. They need compassionate, accessible support that recognizes the connection between mental, physical, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being.

What they needed did not exist in one place. That realization led to the creation of Empower Wellness Center, a welcoming environment where restorative services, education, prevention, community connection, and whole-person support come together under one roof.

Empower is the place Catherine and Michelle wished had been available to them and their families: a place where people are met with compassion instead of judgment, connection instead of isolation, and hope instead of barriers.

Because healing should not be so difficult to find, and no one should have to navigate life's greatest challenges alone.