First Lady Visits Community Health Clinic

ABC News’ Yunji de Nies Reports:

First Lady Michelle Obama took her "listening tour" outside of the federal realm today, with a visit to Mary’s Center, a community health clinic. Mary’s Center provides pre and postnatal health care, social service case management, home visitation, health care for teens, early childhood and family education, and HIV testing and prevention. Mrs. Obama spent about an hour at the facility in Washington’s Adam’s Morgan neighborhood, meeting with staff, patients and children in the after-school programs.

She read a book to a group of young children, one of whom asked the First Lady where her husband was, and if he does in fact live with her.

"Yes, he lives with me really," she said, "He just went on a trip today but I will tell him you asked about him."

The President spent his day in Fort Myers, Florida, holding a town hall meeting with local residents, as part of his larger push to sell the economic stimulus package.

Mrs. Obama later met with a group of teenagers. She told them she came to meet with them because she and the President want to get to know the community. " We’ve been visitors but now we live here," the First Lady said, "D.C. is our community now and it’s our home. Barack is real busy right now so I figured I’ve got the time on my hands and while the kids are in school, I figured I would come out and hear about programs and meet students."

Mrs. Obama also spoke about her own middle class upbringing, saying she believes it’s important for young people without resources to get to know her.

"Not the First Lady but to see that there is no magic to me sitting here," she explained, "There is no magic dust that was sprinkled on my head or Barack’s head. We were kids much like you who figured out one day that our fate was in our own hands."

Tomorrow Mrs. Obama will attend a panel discussion at Howard University focusing on Black History Month.

-Yunji de Nies