[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 119 (Monday, August 1, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1467]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING THE FAIR HAVEN COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER ON ITS 40TH ANNIVERSARY

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                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, August 1, 2011

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise today to 
extend my sincere congratulations to the administrators and staff of 
Fair Haven Community Health Center as they celebrate their 40th 
Anniversary. Over the last four decades, the Fair Haven Community 
Health Center has provided quality, affordable health care to some of 
our community's most vulnerable families. In doing so, they have become 
an invaluable resource to hundreds, earning a well-deserved reputation 
for ensuring that health care is available regardless of ability to 
pay. This is an outstanding organization and I am proud to join 
community leaders and residents alike in commemorating this remarkable 
milestone.
  In 1971 a small group of dedicated nurses, doctors, students, and 
neighborhood volunteers, under the leadership of a community advocacy 
agency called the Alliance for Latin American Progress, opened the Fair 
Haven Clinic in a local elementary school. Two nights a week, the 
Clinic served adults and children on a walk-in basis for minor 
ailments, immunizations, and family planning services. With a budget of 
only five thousand dollars, made available through a grant from the 
Greater New Haven Community Foundation, they were able to accommodate 
over five hundred visits in their first year. It was clear that 
families were not only in need of these basic services, but of expanded 
health care as well. Over the next decade the Clinic worked to expand 
the services that they were able to provide to more comprehensive 
primary health care. Today, the Fair Haven Community Health Center has 
grown into one of our community's most respected non-profit primary 
health care organizations, providing comprehensive health care--from 
prenatal and pediatric to adolescent, adult and geriatric care--to 
hundreds of residents every year.
  The administrators and staff at Fair Haven Community Health Center 
continue to seek every opportunity that will allow them to provide 
quality health care to those families who are either uninsured or 
underinsured. With the growing number of those families who find 
themselves uninsured or underinsured, the Center has seen demands in 
the community rise exponentially. I have had many opportunities to 
visit the Center and am always impressed with the amount of good work 
that they are able to do with the limited funding that they receive. 
The Center not only provides health care services, but they have 
developed and implemented extraordinary outreach and education programs 
which benefit community residents. Perhaps most importantly, the Center 
provides the community with the security of knowing that their families 
will have access to the quality health care they need without the fear 
of the financial burden of excessive medical bills.
  I would be remiss if I did not extend a special note of thanks and 
congratulations to the Center's Executive Director, Katrina Clark. 
Katrina has been at the helm of this organization for all but its first 
two years. It has been under her leadership and because of her vision 
that the Center has grown so successfully over the last four decades. I 
have had the privilege to know Katrina for many years. Her commitment 
to the people of the Fair Haven community is only equaled by her 
determination to ensure that they have access to quality, affordable 
health care. She is an extraordinary woman and I consider myself 
fortunate to benefit from her counsel and friendship.
  Over the course of their history, the Fair Haven Community Health 
Center has developed strong partnerships that have helped them to 
continue to expand their services to meet the ever-changing needs of 
the community. I am proud of the work that we have been able to do 
together and am honored to have this opportunity to extend my warmest 
congratulations on their 40th Anniversary as well as my very best 
wishes for many more years of successful work in our community.

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