Source returns to the Valley
Just over a year ago it appeared that Whitney Madden’s alternative medicine practice, Source for Well-Being, would end its run in the Swannanoa Valley. Following a tense, 18-month battle with the Town of Black Mountain over zoning laws, Madden moved her family and her practice out of town.
Frustrated with the outcome of the ordeal, Madden found a temporary home for Source in Asheville while she considered the long-term future of her Chinese medicine and acupuncture practice.
She said the decision by the town to disallow her business to operate in a residentially zoned neighborhood is still “painful.”
“There’s such a great need for healing practitioners, and it’s such a challenge for the ones that are out there to be in business,” she said. “One of the benefits that we had at the wellness center was to be able to pool our resources together.”
Ultimately, Madden and her family chose to remain in the Valley. They recently announced the opening of a new Source location on Swannanoa’s Riddle Road.
“I have been here for 15 years. My daughter was born here and my community is here,” she said of her decision to bring the business back to the area. “My friends and my clients live here. We left Black Mountain because we don’t agree with the politics, but we still do all of our personal and professional business in the area as we have always done.”
Much of what Source has done, according to Madden, is provide an important service for her clients, many of whom live locally.
“I have quite a few clients that come from Asheville and even other states,” she said. “But the majority of them are in the Valley. After a year of practicing in Asheville, Swannanoa is great because it’s right in the middle.”
Madden and her husband Blake each sold homes in Black Mountain after closing the Montreat Road location of Source last year. They decided on a home in Swannanoa that provided a prime location for Madden’s office.
“We found a home on three acres that has a phenomenal view,” she said of the new home/office. “It is really quiet and serene and absolutely gorgeous. It’s a very healing and nurturing space.”
She adds that the new Source provides a more intimate space less distracting than the former location, which has since been converted to a duplex.
Her return to the area has been well-received by clients, many of which have been with her for more than 12 years.
“They’re excited that I’m closer than I was, even though I wasn’t too far out,” Madden said of the response from her customers. “They get out here, get out of the car and see this amazing view, that’s when the healing begins.”
Madden said she is “excited” to return to the Swannanoa Valley.