MAPU MAIA CLINIC
Representative Adam Smith submitted the following Community Project Funding request for UTOPIA.
$500,000 was successfully included in the House Committee on Appropriations Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 appropriations bill.
Each Representative may request funding for up to 15 projects in their community for fiscal year 2023. This does not guarantee the projects will be funded.
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“We are thankful to Congressman Adam Smith and his hard-working team for recognizing and uplifting the work that UTOPIA Washington is doing with our Mapu Maia Clinic,” said Taffy Johnson, UTOPIA WA Executive Director. “With this support and allyship, our clinic can and will help to address the lack of awareness and education around transgender and gender-diverse health care needs and provide healthcare resources and services to our broader LGBTQIA+ community members.”
“The Mapu Maia Clinic does critically important work to expand access to health care services in Kent, especially for LBGTQIA+ community members. UTOPIA’s culturally relevant prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery support, and transgender and gender-diverse health care services are making a real difference in addressing the lack of health care services available to many people Washington’s Ninth District,” said Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.). “UTOPIA is dedicated to serving members of the Pacific Islander and broader LGBTQIA+ community who face significant health disparities and cultural barriers to accessing quality health care. The funding I requested will build on this crucial work and expand the reach of the clinic’s services. I am proud to support UTOPIA through the FY23 appropriations process and I look forward to our work together as their impact continues to grow in Washington State.”
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UTOPIA and its Mapu Maia Clinic serve as a trusted, culturally aligned, free health care resource for Pacific Islanders in the LGBTQI community. The Mapu Maia Clinic provides resources for substance use and mental health services, including prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery support services. The Mapu Maia Clinic has served the community since the outbreak of the pandemic and has provided health care needs and services to community members through trusted partnerships and volunteer efforts of health care providers and organizations.
This funding would help enable UTOPIA to establish a fully functional drop-in clinic that operates weekly and after-hours to meet the needs of the community members with a range of substance use and mental health related services. This will help UTOPIA meet the specific needs of the LGBTQI community, immigrants, and communities of color that face cultural barriers and exacerbated health disparities. Funding will enable Mapu Maia Clinic to expand the reach of its services to provide needed community and culturally informed health care services and programming.
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