AUSTIN, Texas— A clinic focused on the transgender community opens Thursday in Austin.

Texas Health Action is an Austin nonprofit that promotes sexual wellness among the region's transgender community.

The Kind Clinic is the first transgender care clinic of its kind in Central Texas.

For transgender patients — a doctor that already understands them — makes all the difference.

"I've encountered doctors that don't understand my gender or why so they act like they're afraid of me so it translates as they don't want to help me. So I love the fact that here I can be myself, I don't have to hide, I don't have to pretend,” patient Kelly Kline.

The clinic offers free health services with a focus on STD testing and HIV prevention.