Gentle Strength is a collective of herbalists building a worker-owned cooperative here in Providence RI, to help strengthen and connect our beloved herbal community.
While we work towards securing a physical home, we are beginning here by growing resources, sharing knowledge and nurturing connection.
Why a Cooperative Model Matters
Establishing the herb shop as a worker-owned cooperative is not just a business structure, it's a direct extension of the values embedded in herbal medicine itself. Herbalism has always been rooted in collective knowledge, shared tradition, and reciprocal care. It is passed down through families, cultivated in backyards and community gardens, and practiced within neighborhoods - not owned or monopolized by any one entity.
A co-op structure reflects this living economy, where wellness is not a commodity reserved for the few, but a shared resource maintained and enriched by the community itself. In this model, workers and community members have a stake in both the financial well-being of the business and the health and empowerment of the people it serves.
By establishing the herb shop as a cooperative, we protect the accessibility, cultural integrity, and sustainability of herbal medicine, while ensuring that profits and decision-making power remain in the hands of those most impacted - local residents, healers, and everyday people invested in wellness as a shared responsibility.
Mission
Gentle Strength is a worker-owned herb shop, tea bar, and community education space. Our co-op is named for the belief that the gentle strength of our plant allies are entwined with the well-being of our community. We believe everyone has the right to herbal knowledge and care. By fostering relationships with herbal farmers, herbalists and plant enthusiasts, we aim to connect people from all walks of life with the empowering knowledge of plant medicine and to reinforce both individual and community resilience.
Our community space functions as a hub for teachers & students looking to broaden their understanding of the plants around them via workshops and individual guidance. Gentle Strengths community space is inclusive to everyone interested in learning about plant medicine.
We carefully source herbs and buy directly from the grower as much as possible so that our tea blends and botanicals are of the highest quality. Our thoughtfully curated tea bar offers a wide array of herbal drinks and treats for health, happiness, and sometimes just a good olde thyme.
Gentle Strength envisions a world where we are all stewards, strengthening our relationship to self, one another, and the earth.
Our goal is to support, nurture, and build a resilient herbal community in Rhode Island that is open to all.
Vision
