[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 211 (Tuesday, December 7, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1329]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





         CELEBRATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF FAMILY TREE CLINIC

                                 ______
                                 

                          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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