Image courtesy of Care for All Community Clinic
Care for All Community Clinic Logo
Care for All Community Clinic Logo
Care For All Community Clinic, a nonprofit health center, opened its doors earlier this month in Milwaukee’s Concordia neighborhood at 756 N. 35th St., Suite 204. The clinic is Wisconsin’s first independent nonprofit clinic to offer abortion procedures since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, filling a critical role in expanding statewide abortion access. Care for All is open four days a week including Saturdays, is available for same-day appointments, and offers care regardless of ability to pay.
In addition to abortion, Care for All plans to provide the following services: STI testing and treatment, vaginitis testing, cervical cancer screening, miscarriage management and contraception (birth control pills, shots, patches and rings). The property is gated and fenced, ensuring safe and secure parking for all clients. Volunteer escorts are present at all times.
The Care for All mission is to serve those most affected by financial barriers, such as those who are uninsured, underinsured or on Medicaid. Sliding scale payment options are available. Unique to the clinic is that payment is not required for the initial counseling and ultrasound visit. Because it is a nonprofit, Care for All has funding secured for clients.
“We’re not going to tell anyone that they need to go figure this out before we can see them,” Executive Director Ali Kliegman assures. “It’s just not OK to do that to people who are pregnant and don’t want to be. In no other healthcare would we do that.” They continue, “We won’t be contracting with private insurance, but if someone who has it comes to us, we can see if we can get out-of-network benefits.”
Pushback Against Bureaucracy
Photo courtesy of Care for All Community Clinic
Ali Kliegman - Care for All Community Clinic
Executive Director Ali Kliegman
Kliegman has been involved in abortion care and community health work for over 20 years. Originally from Milwaukee, Kliegman previously lived in Brooklyn, New York before moving back to Milwaukee after Covid hit. Upon returning, Kliegman experienced newfound bureaucracy and pushback on things previously unheard of in New York.
“It’s a very different environment there,” Kliegman says about New York. “It’s a different landscape with funding, with politics, with support and awareness - all of it. I had what I learned and had done in a more progressive space; how do we start bringing some of this to Wisconsin?”
The overturn of Roe v. Wade severely restricted abortion in Wisconsin, but after Dane County Judge Diane Schlipper ruled in December 2023 that the 1849 state law does not apply to abortions, Planned Parenthood clinics in Milwaukee, Madison and Sheboygan resumed abortion access. Milwaukee’s Affiliated Medical Services has since reopened as well.
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Creative and Nimble
“There’s a huge network of independent clinics doing a larger percentage of abortions,” Kliegman notes. “Independent clinics have more freedom to get creative, nimble and embedded in the community, so I strongly felt that Wisconsin needed a nonprofit one.”
As they envisioned what the clinic would look like, Kliegman was advised by people to wait until after last November's election to even start the process of opening it. But one person told them to just go ahead and do it. “That was the one person I listened to, and I’m glad I did,” Kliegman affirms. “They basically said, the people who don’t want abortion want me to be afraid and not open this clinic. There’s always going to be something to be afraid of, and I needed to just ignore them. People will never stop needing abortions.”
Once Kliegman recruited a doctor experienced in abortion procedures, they connected with other independent clinics opening up around the country. “There wasn’t really anyone I could talk to about opening a nonprofit independent clinic in Wisconsin,” they mention. “We had to figure out a lot on our own, but being a nonprofit felt familiar to both of us, so we’re glad we went that route.”
Quick Start
Photo courtesy of Care for All Community Clinic
Flex Room - Care for All Community Clinic
A flex room at Care for All Community Clinic
Kliegman is proud of how quickly Care for All materialized. They secured the clinic’s space last summer, followed by the proper permits, licenses and grants in a matter of months. Meanwhile, they held fundraising events like Drag Bingo at POP and the virtual Pilates for WI Abortion Access.
“No one on our construction team was harassed,” Kliegman mentions. ‘I was grateful for that, because things like that happen when word gets out. We were very careful with what information we shared and with whom.”
In the long-term, Kliegman plans to add gender-affirming care, vasectomies, perimenopause support and provider training to Care for All services. They also hope for it to be a completely free clinic eventually, reckoning, “We’re small, but I think if we do what we say we’re going to do—which is to really take care of people, regardless of their ability to pay—it will demonstrate that the need is there.”
Care for All Community Clinic can be reached at (262) 272-0246. Folks can support the clinic through donating, volunteering, shopping merchandise, subscribing to its newsletter or via its wishlist. They are currently recruiting for volunteer clinic escorts, especially those who can do morning weekday shifts. Additional resources, such as pregnancy continuation options and financial assistance, are listed on its website.
Ali Kliegman will be a panelist at Reproductive Justice Action Milwaukee (RJAM)’s No Roe, No Rest! March and Panel at Zao MKE Sunday, June 22 at 11 a.m.
