Summer 2021, I had the opportunity to put my studies into action as I completed a CHNA for Family Tree Clinic, a federally qualified health center based in the Twin Cities. As a geography major, with a minor in statistics and a concentration in community and global health, I layered these lenses to understand how the built environments and systemic inequalities determine how individuals access the care they need.

Family Tree Clinic (FTC) was founded by Macalester students in 1971 in the Mac-Groveland neighborhood. From its inception, this community clinic has been providing critical access to affordable and comprehensive sexual healthcare and education. Fifty years later, Family Tree is still a pillar in the community, providing sliding scale healthcare and leading the way in LGBTQ+, gender-affirming, and care for the deaf, blind, and hard of hearing communities. FTC left Saint Paul and moved into its new clinic in the fall of 2021. Located in the Stevens Square neighborhood of Minneapolis, this new clinic is trauma-informed and art-infused; offering patients and the community an inclusive and comforting space to receive the care they deserve.

During summer 2021, I had the honor of working as a Chuck Green Fellow for Family Tree Clinic. In this role, I collaborated with Executive Director and Macalester alumnus, Alissa Light ‘03 (featured in header photo) to create a community health needs assessment for their new location.

This project consisted of three main parts: an analysis of publicly held data (Minnesota Department of Health, American Community Survey, Center for Disease Control, and Census, etc.), an analysis of Family Tree Clinic’s patient data, and interviews with stakeholders in their new neighborhood. By way of creating this report, we were able to gain a better understanding of the holistic well-being and comprehensive needs of this community along with the ways in which FTC’s patient demographics have changed over time. Questions such as where do they celebrate, where do they grieve, from whom do they seek care guided our efforts as we prepared for the transition.

The final CHNA includes insights into community health needs, explains how Stevens Square is different from FTC's previous location in the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood, notes important shifts in the clinic’s patient population over time, and explains the vision the surrounding community has for Family Tree. I was able to use ArcPro to visualize some of the geographic shifts and highlight where they pull their patients from. This assessment is being used to inform strategic planning, advocate for increased funding, and is helping to determine clinic logistics such as hours and services.