Invest In A More Just Tomorrow...And A Better Today

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INVEST IN IMPACT: Tackle the social determinants of health

Wheeler’s core work addresses the social determinants of health, and, every day, our team innovatively serves Connecticut’s communities in taking on the toughest challenges we face as a society. The need is a daily focus; about half of Wheeler’s patients are below federal poverty guidelines. About 75% are below 200% of those guidelines. 

Investing in programs and services that address the social determinants of health has an oversized ability to change lives and improve health and wellness outcomes.
Wheeler’s continuum addresses every axis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s five social determinants of health:

  • Health Care Access and Quality – Wheeler’s five Family Health & Wellness Centers are federally qualified health centers, focused on serving the state’s most medically underserved and vulnerable populations. An investment in this area keeps Connecticut healthy.
  • Education Access and Quality – Our Northwest Village School provides state-of-the-art special education and integrated clinical services for students from more than 60 districts across Connecticut. Investments in our students help make a better tomorrow for them, and their families.
  • Social and Community Context – Our focus on equity, diversity, and systemic injustice informs everything we do. Private investments in LGBTQIA+, racially, and ethnically responsive services means we meet our patients where they are in their lived experiences.
  • Economic Stability – Investing in our Basic Needs Fund (below) directly supports patients living daily with poverty, unemployment, or food and housing insecurity.

Neighborhood and Built Environment – Many of Wheeler’s patients do not have access to healthy groceries, safe places to exercise, or transportation. Private investment can directly address these disparities through our nutrition programming, complementary medicine services, fitness efforts, rides to appointments, and much more.

INVEST IN IMPACT: Save lives through the Basic Needs Fund

Since 2018, we have supported more than 5,500 patients and families with immediate, responsive help for the basic needs of life, which you or I may take for granted. This has included direct assistance for:

  • Groceries
  • Clothing
  • Transportation
  • Household items
  • Utility assistance

The needs are real and unrelenting, which was exposed greater during the pandemic. The difference that even a small bit of support provides can be life-changing.

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