Redleaf Center for Family Healing celebrates first anniversary
The Redleaf Center for Family Healing is celebrating one year of hope and healing for Minnesota moms, dads, babies and families at their beautiful new Center that’s connected to Hennepin Healthcare’s HCMC Purple Building on the corner of Chicago Avenue and Sixth Street. A One-Year Anniversary Celebration is planned for Wednesday, May 11 from 4-6 p.m.
The Redleaf Center grew out of the work of Hennepin Healthcare’s Mother-Baby Program, Minnesota’s first intensive mental health program for pregnant and postpartum moms. Thanks to a $10 million transformational gift from the Lynne and Andrew Redleaf Foundation and a groundswell of support from the Pohlad Foundation, Roots and Wings, the Richard M. Schulze Foundation, and hundreds of donors, the Redleaf Center was completed and includes beautiful, expansive space for the Mother-Baby Program, family and parenting support services, mind-body-spirit services and a teaching kitchen to promote the healing power of food.
The groundbreaking ceremony took place Wednesday, November 13, 2019 and despite the pandemic and all the challenges of these past years, the Redleaf Center was completed in February 2021. Responding to unique needs of this time, the Redleaf Center team members developed innovative ways of delivering care and since July 2021, they’ve had a full range of in-person, hybrid and video mental health services. Another success has been the ability to reach beyond the walls of the facilities to form valuable community partnerships to support families.
“We opened at a time of unprecedented turmoil in Minneapolis, and across the nation,” explains Dr. Helen Kim, Director of the Redleaf Center for Family Healing. “While challenging, it was incredibly timely to open a place that is centered on young children and families – and centered on a mission of social justice. Minnesota needs a Redleaf Center right now! And we are thrilled to finally have a place worthy of the families and communities we hope to serve. We are about promoting generational healing, empowering parents and caregivers, and addressing root causes that undermine wellbeing including early life adversity, systemic racism and oppression, and poverty.”
Since opening last year, the Redleaf Center has stepped up to respond to the growing needs of families. In 2021, Redleaf Center team members provided 9000 total mental health visits, responded to 1000 HopeLine calls, and launched the Family Support Team with a therapist based in Pediatrics that fielded 100 referrals in the first 4 months.
Now the Redleaf Center for Family Healing celebrates its one-year anniversary, which itself has paralleled the first year of life for families adjusting to newborns.
“The Redleaf Center shines a light on very young children, and the importance of investing in and empowering the most essential people in children’s lives — their parents and caregivers,” said Dr. Kim. “We are celebrating our one-year birthday, and are excited to grow together, grounded in social justice and a shared commitment to be better and do better for children and families. Now more than ever, families and communities, and all of us need places of hope and healing.”
About Hennepin Healthcare Foundation
The Hennepin Healthcare Foundation guides those in the community who wish to support the mission of Hennepin Healthcare to provide outstanding care for everyone, while improving health and wellness through teaching, patient and community education, and research.
About Hennepin Healthcare
Hennepin Healthcare is an integrated system of care that includes HCMC, a nationally recognized Level I Adult Trauma Center and Level I Pediatric Trauma Center and acute care hospital, as well as a clinic system with primary care clinics located in Minneapolis and across Hennepin County.
