Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic (KBFPC) is a community based nonprofit organization providing sexual and reproductive health services and education on the Kenai Peninsula to people of all identities and income levels. With the belief that every individual deserves to feel safe and healthy in their body and their relationships, KBFPC is celebrating 40 years of compassionate care.

“Through our programs, we support our mission for individuals and the community as a whole, focusing on prevention, testing and treatment,” said Chief Executive Officer Claudia Haines.

KBFPC’s programs include the clinic, community outreach and education, and youth engagement through the REC Room, the youth Resource and Enrichment Co-op.

In the clinic, staff provide traditional reproductive and sexual health care services, including access to contraception, annual wellness visits, breast and cervical health screenings. More recently they have been providing gender affirming care, sexually transmitted infection testing and for HIV prevention.

Melon Purcell has served on the organization’s board for 35 years.

“Susan Arndt, Gail Radcliff and Bonnie Bentley founded KBFPC with the vision to provide a service where people would feel comfortable talking about things they don’t normally talk about, like sex and issues that arise from sex,” Purcell said. “They imagined the clinic as a place to talk about private things in a comfortable and supported way and that is what have been striving to provide to the community.”

KBFPC’s outreach and education program relies on staff and volunteers to share information about their programs, provide clinical services and community discussions. Their partnerships with other organizations support the well being of the community by increasing awareness of healthcare resources and promoting healthy choices and relationships. Beyond networking at fairs and festivals, KBFPC also holds educational events with providers addressing a variety of topics.

KBFPC’s youth engagement programs include the REC Room, a free after school drop-in space for teens ages 12 to 18 years old. Guided by their interests and intended to support student’s healthy behaviors, relationships with their peers and with trusted safe adults, these services are provided at no cost to teens and their families. Additionally, peer educators, supported by adult staff, operate a Peer Education and Sexual Health program. Both programs create inclusive and empowering spaces for middle and high school students to learn and connect.

Purcell has watched the organization grow, from files fitting into two cardboard boxes to the first office space in a cabin by NAPA to their first computer, donated by community member Nell Gustafson, and receiving their very first grant, which was from United Way.

“We continue to get more sophisticated, and I’m always proud to see leaps and developments to stay in step with the times, to be safe and proactive and to be able to serve clients with more and different kinds of contraception and tests,” Purcell said.

During the last couple of years, KBFPC has been offering Empower Genetic Testing for those who want to know more about their risk of developing cancer, why it might be common in their family, or want to inform treatment options following a cancer diagnosis.

“This testing is valuable to clients who might have breast or cervical cancer in their family and want to make decisions with as much information as possible,” Haines said. “This is at the root of our unique kind of care: empowering clients to have all the information they need as well as access to resources they need in order to make good decisions about their health.”

While KBFPC takes Medicaid and private insurance, they are unique in that most of their services are part of Title X, the nation’s program for affordable birth control and reproductive healthcare, enabling the clinic to provide these at low or no cost to their clients.

“We went from providing services to mostly teens or low-income people to anyone who wanted high quality, individual-based, thorough, heart-centered health care, regardless of age, income or gender,” said Michelle Waneka who began volunteering at KBFPC in 1994 and went on to serve as Executive Director for 18 years.

When Waneka started working at the KBFPC, the clinic was a small, volunteer-based and bare bones organization meeting the needs of their communities by providing women’s health care services and birth control supplies with the resources they had. That matured into more professional-based services, including paid practitioners, a trained support staff and clinical protocols. From two paid staff to 20 today, KBFPC continues to grow and expand its services and outreach.

“KBPFC has always been a combination of good vision, hard work, the right people and lots and lots of community support,” Waneka said. “We were some of the first in the nation to train teens to educate other teens and our programs were models for how to do it right. We did a lot of outreach to the Russian villages back when they were more isolated and to communities across the bay. We also initiated a men’s health program and made it possible for individuals to have private sexually transmitted infection and/or HIV testing, another milestone back in the day.”

Under Waneka’s guidance, additional services for women were secured, a nationally recognized door-to-door recruitment program was created and alliances were built with nonprofits like Haven House, Homer Medical Clinic, Homer Public Health, the Kenai Peninsula School District, South Peninsula Hospital and The Center.

When the Planned Parenthood office in Soldotna closed two years ago, KBFPC applied for and received seed money to create a remote pilot project to extend their clinic care from the Kenai Peninsula to the Central Peninsula. That project ended this past May, but the organization had enough success and money to keep the effort going, renewing local partnerships, developing new partnerships and growing the Homer clinic.

“Everyone who walks through our door has a different starting in point in his or her health,” Haines said. “We support where people are and help them navigate where they want to go.”

Join KBFPC on Saturday, July 22 for its 40th Anniversary party fundraiser, Roots & Shoots, 6:30-9 p.m. at Bear Creek Winery. Enjoy food, refreshments, live music by the Wet Spots and a silent auction while helping them meet its goal of raising $40,000 this summer to support their programs and services.

To donate, sign up for their newsletter, become a client, join the board, donate to the silent auction or get tickets for the Roots & Shoots fundraiser, visit KBFPC online at kbfpc.org or in person at 3959 Ben Walters Lane.

Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic staff (left to right) Angie Holland, RN, Jane Rohr, Sonja Martin Young, CNM, Robin Holmes, MD and Cherie Bole, CMA provide an array of reproductive and sexual health services. Photo provided by KBFPC

Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic volunteers Fiona Hatton and Olivia Glasman and CEO Claudia Haines (right) provide outreach at Salmonfest in 2022. Photo provided by KBFPC

Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic volunteers Fiona Hatton and Olivia Glasman and CEO Claudia Haines (right) provide outreach at Salmonfest in 2022. Photo provided by KBFPC