The Department of Housing and Urban Development approved an "alternative wellness" therapy program, contracted through the National Institute for Medical Options, targeting public housing residents who suffer from disorders ranging from glandular imbalances to drug addiction. Treatment involved using gemstones, incantations, "goddess typing," and "applied kinesiology," in which a practitioner feels a person's glands to identify one of 14 personality types. The New York Post reports that the program's expenses totaled $860,000 over a three-year period, including $3,174 for incense packs, $6,255 for aroma kits, $3,240 for color charts, $6,270 for gem bags, and $624 for nutrition kits that included candy bars and Jim Beam whiskey. HUD's Michelle Lusson gave the Post an example of how such treatment worked: "If you have a thyroid disease or an obesity problem, you don't wear red around your neck. All other colors are fine. Certain colors aggravate certain energy systems in the body that have an impact on the glands, like red on the thyroid."

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