36th Annual Golf Classic, Presented by Mutual of America Financial Group, Raises $52,000 to Support Wheeler’s Basic Needs Fund
On Wednesday, September 15, more than 130 golfers, sponsors, and volunteers participated in Wheeler’s 36th Annual Golf Classic, presented by Mutual of America Financial Group, at the Country Club of Farmington, raising $52,000 to support individuals and families in care through Wheeler’s Basic Needs Fund.
The total amount raised through this event is more than $1.3 million since the event’s inception in 1986.
“Last year, amid the pandemic, we served more than 50,000 kids, adults, families, and communities, across more than 90 percent of Connecticut’s cities and towns,” said Sabrina Trocchi, PhD, MPA, president and chief executive officer, Wheeler. “Without our donors and supporters, and their role in events such as the Golf Classic, we cannot meet community needs, including the most basic needs, such as food, clothing, transportation, linkage to community services, and more.
“Because of our supporters, we are able to address factors that interfere with patients’ health and well-being—in ways not addressed by other means of funding, and we are helping to further improve health outcomes for individuals and communities,” Trocchi added.
Wheeler’s 36th Annual Golf Classic was made possible by a number of local businesses, including Presenting/Title Sponsor, Mutual of America Financial Group; Platinum Dinner Sponsor, People’s United Bank; Platinum Logo Sponsor, The Manafort Family Foundation; Golf Cart Sponsor, Loureiro; Lunch Sponsor, Mott; Beverage Cart Sponsor, GO, and Golf Ball Sponsor, Access Health CT Small Business. Additionally, the event was supported by members of the 2021 Champion’s Circle, Barnes Group, Inc., Brown & Brown Insurance®, Genoa Healthcare®, Karl Krapek, and Laurie and Bill Torres. Mitchell Auto Group was the event Hole in One Sponsor. Numerous additional sponsors also provided support. A full list can be found here.
Wheeler’s Basic Needs Fund
Wheeler’s Basic Needs Fund addresses a range of environmental and social factors that interfere with a patient’s health and well-being, but which are not addressed by other means of funding. This fund allows the organization’s community health workers to address environmental conditions in homes, neighborhoods, and communities of Family Health & Wellness Center patients, which might lead to poor health outcomes. It also provides resources to address basic needs such as food, transportation, clothing, shelter, medications, or other items or activities that cannot be accessed through a patient's own resources and/or community-based programs.
Since 2018, the Basic Needs Fund has supported more than 5,500 patients and families with immediate, responsive help to meet basic needs. Learn more about this fund and its impact on community health, here.
Wheeler’s Annual Golf Classic
The Wheeler Annual Golf Classic was founded by a group of business leaders and top companies in 1986 to raise money for behavioral health and community-based services for children and adolescents. Some of the original supporters remain involved today, including McPhee Electric and Tollman Spring Company.
Proceeds from past Golf Classic events have helped Wheeler address emergent community needs such as ensuring access to integrated primary and behavioral health services in underserved communities, child abuse prevention, and providing a state-of-the-art learning environment for students with emotional and behavioral challenges.
Wheeler Family Health & Wellness Centers
Wheeler’s Family Health & Wellness Centers in Bristol, Hartford, New Britain, Plainville, and Waterbury offer integrated primary care and behavioral health care, addiction treatment, and complementary approaches to care.
Wheeler's Family Health & Wellness Centers are funded in part by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an operating division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Wheeler is a Health Center Program grantee under 42 U.S.C. 254b and a deemed Public Health Service employee under 42 U.S.C. 233(g)-(n).
Medicaid, Medicare, and commercial health insurance welcome. No patient will be denied health care services due to an individual’s inability to pay for services. Improvements to the Family Health & Wellness Center in Hartford are supported in part by the State of Connecticut Nonprofit Grant Program, the Connecticut Health & Educational Facilities Authority, the Maximilian E. and Marion O. Hoffman Foundation, and the Ensworth Charitable Foundation. Additional support is provided by Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation.
