[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 28, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING OPEN CITIES HEALTH CENTER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 28, 2006

  Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
ground-breaking work of the Open Cities Health Center. In a fitting 
celebration of African American History Month, Ms. Mary Stokes and Mrs. 
Timothy O. Vann will be remembered and celebrated at an awards ceremony 
on February 24, 2006. These two pioneering African-American women 
founded the center, providing the vision to provide culturally 
competent health care--a vision that has grown into a vital resource in 
the Twin Cities community for nearly four decades.
  The Open Cities Health Center has become one of the largest nonprofit 
community health centers in the Twin Cities. The center was one of the 
first in the State of Minnesota to focus on providing health care to 
low-income residents, predominantly people of color. A group of Saint 
Paul residents began the center in a church basement in Saint Paul's 
Rondo neighborhood in 1967. Stokes and Vann addressed the health needs 
of our most at-risk citizens when no one else would. The all-volunteer 
clinic started out by providing immunizations and basic health 
education to African-Americans.
  Today, due in part to Federal and local government grants over the 
years, the center has greatly expanded its outreach and become a well-
known, multi-lingual clinic that continues to serve the African-
American community as well as members of the East African, Southeast 
Asian, and Caucasian communities. The center provides a wide array of 
important physical, mental health, and dental services to residents 
from all over the Twin Cities.
  Mr. Speaker, please join me in paying tribute to the vital work of 
the Open Cities Health Center. We must all work together to increase 
access to screenings and preventive care treatment for all Americans. I 
commend the Open Cities Health Center for working to eliminate the 
damaging health disparities that continue to exist among racial and 
ethnic groups.

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