The publication is reproduced in full below:
CELEBRATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF FAMILY TREE CLINIC
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HON. BETTY McCOLLUM
of minnesota
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
Ms. McCOLLUM. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the staff, volunteers and patients of Family Tree Clinic on its 50th anniversary of service to the Saint Paul and Minneapolis communities. As a nonprofit community clinic in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, Family Tree provides education and high-quality, affordable, and affirming health care centered on each person they serve.
With its deep roots in Saint Paul, Family Tree began in 1971 when community volunteers and health care workers came together to fill a gap in access to reproductive health care that was brought to light by a neighborhood needs assessment. Family Tree responded by offering non-
judgmental and patient-centered care, regardless of an individual's ability to pay. Early on, Family Tree mostly served students from five nearby colleges. Over the years, it has grown to reach people throughout the Upper Midwest.
Family Tree is a leading reproductive and sexual health clinic that has strengthened its services to vulnerable and marginalized populations throughout its five decades of service. It operates the Minnesota Family Planning and STD Hotline, which was established by the Minnesota Department of Health in 1978. Through the hotline, Family Tree provides reliable and accurate medical information and education across Minnesota. Family Tree's health education program in schools reaches more than 15,000 students and parents each year. In 2004, Family Tree pioneered a new health education program--still the only program like it in the U.S.--that provides free, comprehensive sexual health education and advocacy services to 800 people each year in Minnesota who are Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled, Hard of Hearing, and LateDeafened. Its creation of the LGBTQ Health Access Initiative in 2009 increased Family Tree's percentage of patients who are LGBTQ from 9 percent to 60 percent. Family Tree also partners with the University of Minnesota to train medical students in LGBTQ-inclusive health care services.
Today, Family Tree has more than 35 staff members and 50 volunteers who reach over 22,000 people per year through its many programs and services. With the growth of the clinic and increased demand for comprehensive health care, Family Tree Clinic kicked off its next 50 years of service by recently moving into a new clinic and education center in Minneapolis. The new building provides space for more exam rooms and staff, continued expansion of community programs, the addition of telehealth capabilities, and the potential to serve an additional 10,000 patients each year.
Madam Speaker, please join me in honoring Family Tree Clinic's caring and steadfast staff and volunteers--as well of the patients they serve--on the 50th anniversary of the clinic's success at cultivating a healthy community through comprehensive sexual health care and education.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 211(1), Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 211(2)
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