Staff Stories
We are a vibrant, community-based non-profit with more than 900 employees in 35 locations across Connecticut. Our culture celebrates quality, innovation, diversity and professionalism. We foster learning and professional development, and we respect and reward meaningful contributions. Our workforce is as broad and diverse as the array of clients we serve and the programs and services we offer, and we’re bound by a passionate commitment to a common goal: to foster positive change in the lives of individuals, families and communities.
MST-IPV Recognized as First 100 Plus
In May, Theresa Casarella, Susan Schneider, and Corey Zemke from Wheeler's Multisystemic Therapy-Intimate Partner Violence team received the First 100 Plus recognition from the CT Coalition Against Domestic Violence for demonstrating leadership and commitment to improving the lives of domestic violence survivors in Connecticut. Congratulations and thank you for your commitment to everyone we serve!
“As a leader, my passion is helping people, teams, and organizations determine where they want to be and helping them get there.”
Camila Rubino, MBA, MSN, BSN, RN
Victoria Prestileo, LCSW, Associate Director, Community-based Services
Douglas Kerr, Director, Human Resources
Keturah Kinch, MPA, Site Director, Wheeler Family Health & Wellness Center, Hartford
A Supportive Culture and Professional Growth and Development

Dieudonnee “Deedee” Kokoszka’s role within Wheeler has been a work in progress over the span of several years. She credits the organization’s supportive culture and leadership to her professional growth and development.
A clinical trainer in Wheeler’s Human Resources Department, Deedee teaches clinicians how to document services in the organization’s electronic health record system and navigate other aspects of required documentation. She also manages the agency’s internship program.
Deedee started her career in Wheeler’s Mobile Crisis Intervention Services as a clinician. She also worked as a clinician in the agency’s Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT) program before transitioning into her current role.
“I’ve always felt supported by Wheeler, and I truly believe there’s always an opportunity to grow and learn and to acquire the skills I need to succeed,” said Deedee. “There are invaluable technological resources available to us, and we are consistently nurtured through training and other professional opportunities so that we can truly achieve our full potential.”
Staff News from Wheeler
Help with Housing – Supportive Housing for Families
POSTED ON: 05.19.2025
Supportive Housing for Families provides families with support services, and access to safe, quality, affordable housing. The mission of SHF is to help DCF families thrive by finding homes in safe neighborhoods, learning skills to manage their housing independently, in order to provide their children with a stable home environment.
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Planning for a Better Tomorrow – Care Coordination
POSTED ON: 05.19.2025
Care Coordination is an in-home, community-based program that collaborates with families of children and adolescents with behavioral and emotional challenges by identifying family strengths and arranging appropriate supports and services to maintain children or adolescents in the community.
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Inspiring Hope, Changing Lives: Perspectives from Wheeler’s Occupational Therapist, Adrianne Smith
POSTED ON: 03.31.2025
What do glitter jars and classical music have to do with occupational therapy? As it turns out, quite a bit. This is according to Adrianne Smith, Wheeler’s Northwest Village School (NVS) occupational therapist who has served students for 22 years after graduating from the University of New Hampshire. Working collaboratively with a team of transdisciplinary professionals, Adrianne develops traditional and out-of-the-box strategies to help students perform necessary tasks throughout their school day and beyond.
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Energage Names Wheeler a Winner of the 2025 USA TODAY Top Workplaces Award
POSTED ON: 03.20.2025
Wheeler has announced it has earned the 2025 USA TODAY Top Workplaces award. Issued by Energage, a purpose-driven organization that develops solutions to build and brand Top Workplaces, the Top Workplaces program has a 15-year history of surveying more than 20 million employees and recognizing the top organizations across 60 markets for regional Top Workplaces awards.
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Wheeler Staff Highlighted in Book on the Vital Role of Local Community Support in Child Welfare
POSTED ON: 02.24.2025
Dru Breslav, LCSW, senior director of community-based family services, and Elisabeth Cannata, Ph.D., vice president, community-based family services and practice innovation, are among the authors of a chapter in a new book by the Child Welfare League of America, entitled "Child Neglect, Inequity, & Poverty. Volume II: Practice Innovations, Concrete Resources, and Justice."
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Twenty Years of Building Stronger Families
POSTED ON: 02.21.2025
Dozens of attendees honored an anniversary in Bristol for two decades of a highly successful model of home-based behavioral health treatment. Wheeler was intimately involved in the development of the Multisystemic Therapy – Building Stronger Families model in 2004-2005 and continues to be a leading provider around the state.
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