A place to heal

BELLE PLAINE — A journey to find healing from past trauma — and to help others in their journeys — has led Heather Hemness to the rural Benton County town of Belle Plaine.

“We’ve kind of lived all over the state,” said Heather. “I was born and lived in Des Moines.” Russ, an Air Force veteran, was born in Nevada.

  Buy Photo

For many years the couple ran residential facilities for mentally disabled veterans in places such as Knoxville, Indianola and Pleasant Hill.

They were living in the southern Iowa town of Chariton when they sold their business and retired about three years ago.

  Buy Photo

Heather started making soaps and other natural products to sell. Each item was paired with an inspirational quote.

“I have struggles,” said Heather. She suffers from complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

  Buy Photo

While PTSD afflicts people who have experienced a traumatic incident, such as the trauma caused by being in an armed conflict while serving with the military, complex post-traumatic stress is a disorder that builds through the years, said Heather.

“It’s typically something geared more toward victims of violence in their personal lives,” she said.

“Through the years I struggled with it a lot,” said Heather, but she wasn’t able to find the help she needed.

  Buy Photo

At 18, she and a friend were brutally attacked in broad daylight, Heather said. They weren’t even offered counseling.

“There’s more today available for help,” she said. “We understand more.”

Heather has tried traditional, institutionalized methods to deal with her disorder. “I think they do more harm than good,” she said.

She was looking for different systems and methods to find peace in her life. What she was experiencing and what she’d seen was not working.

“There’s got to be a better way,” Heather thought.

A better way

At first she wanted to invest in an acreage that could provide a getaway for people like her, but that required too much capital, she said.

Then she and Russ saw the building in Belle Plaine with an Airbnb already in operation on the upper floor and room enough for a healing suite on the ground floor.

The Regal Fritillary emerged.

The business has a private suite for massage, reflexology, reiki and sound therapy and sells essential oils.

“I always came back to the fact that it was in [smaller] places that I felt … comfortable in my own skin,” said Heather. “That I felt much more capable of being able to … open up and heal.

“And I wanted to create that kind of environment for others.”

Belle Plaine, a town of 2,300 people, is becoming that kind of community. It has a chiropractic office that offers acupuncture, and Breathe, a metaphysical shop, is going in across the street from the Regal Fritillary.

Blu Luna C yoga studio is nearby.

The name Regal Fritillary was inspired by the change that butterflies go through, said Heather. It reminds her of poet Maya Angelou’s quote, “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”

The name invokes the metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly — analogous to the healing process — and the different phases of healing.

Sometimes you have to spread your wings, said Heather, and other times you need that cocoon.

“We actually were looking at a store front in Chariton,” said Heather. But it didn’t have the setup that the building in Belle Plaine has. It didn’t have the history or the beauty.

The couple created its healing space and coffee shop in the former florist shop in Belle Plaine and rents out the upstairs bed-and-breakfast room. “We’re booked through September right now,” said Heather.

Coffee, art and oils

The front of the Regal Fritillary is a sitting area with merchandise. Behind a bar, Heather and Russ make coffee and smoothies and serve pastries and hot breakfast items.

In the back of the shop is a mini stage where the Regal Fritillary can host poetry night, karaoke night and story telling night, during which people can tell stories and “find unity with one another.”

“Everybody has a story,” said Heather. Everybody is going through something. “Sometimes it helps knowing you aren’t the only one.

“We have to create environments where we can … explore those opportunities,” Heather said. “[To] get back to more natural ways to heal.”

Regal Fritillary sells essential oils and Heather’s homemade soaps, but she carries items from other vendors as well.

The coloring books are popular. People find the activity relaxing, said Heather.

The Regal Fritillary also sells artwork from local and not-so-local artists. “We showcase their work and help them try to sell it,” Heather said.

At the front of the shop are seascapes by Jodi Ivester, from Van Horne. Chris Ramero, from Newton, is Marine Corps veteran who creates planetary art using spray paint and single line silhouette on canvas.

Jen Piper, from Des Moines, makes soap and is one of the in-house reiki healers.

Joan Gordan, from Belle Plaine, has astrological animal art that she creates live online. Dan Wilson, also of Belle Plaine has canvas paintings and hand sketches for sale.

Des Moines resident Tony Dornbusch has canvas paintings with tormented eyes, and Belle Plaines’s Mike Wickwire sells deer antler carvings in the Regal Fritillary.

“We do offered things like the weighted blankets [and] fidget toys for kids on the [autism] spectrum,” Heather said.

The coffee “was basically an afterthought,” said Russ.

But not really, said Heather. One of the places she found relaxing in her journey toward healing was a coffee shop.

“I feel like it’s a comforting environment,” said Heather. “It’s welcoming. It feels safe.”

The Regal Fritillary offers mango smoothies which boost immunity, harvest greens that help with detoxing and dragon fruit elderberry loaded with vitamin C and extra hydration from the coconut oil.

It has milk options and sugar-free options.

The shop’s coffee beans come from Ross Street Roasting in Tama. “It’s the key to our amazing coffee everyone loves,” said Heather.

A pay-it-forward program allows customers to pay for a beverage or food item and leave the receipt on the cork board for someone in need to redeem.

Well received

The Regal Fritillary opened June 1 and has been received well in the community, said Heather.

“The community has been absolutely amazing,” Heather said. “It really was fate.” She walks down the street, and people say hello and wave.

“You don’t find that in the Des Moines Metropolitan area,” said Russ.

“There are beautiful people here,” said Heather.

Heather hopes to have a healing festival with other businesses in the near future. “They’ve all been talking about it,” she said.

”Business groups have had meetings here,” said Heather. Some of the artists are planning an art night, and “We welcome acoustic musicians to come in and play on our little stage.”

The Regal Fritillary provides space where people feel welcome “and they can let their guard down and be who they are,” said Heather.

“This is pretty much a dream for me. If we can help just one person, then we have succeeded.”

The Regal Fritillary is open from 6:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and Saturday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. except during events, when the hours will be split: 8 a.m. to noon and 5-9 p.m.

Check Facebook for notices for events and times.