News from Wheeler

The Wheeler Family Health & Wellness Center at 40 Hart Street, New Britain set the stage for a gathering of more than 40 people yesterday, including federal and state leaders, funders and staff, who discussed the broadening of pediatric mental health care services through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act passed in June of this year.

Beginning in August, our child and adolescent patients at our Family Health & Wellness Centers can get a free backpack and school supplies thanks to the support of the United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut!

The CNA Excellence in the Workplace Award recognizes a workplace that has achieved an environment that 'empowers nurses, promotes professional autonomy and control over nursing practice.'

Connecticut Children's is leading a collaboration with nearly twenty organizations, including Wheeler, on a five-year, cross-sector effort designed to improve the lives of children in North Hartford under a new $30 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Wheeler’s Melissa Mendez, LCSW, IMH-E, director of Early Childhood Programs, and Kim Holyst, LCSW, director of Behavioral Health, are part of a Connecticut Health Investigative Team story that explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on child and adolescent mental health.

Our Melissa Mendez, LCSW, IMH-E, Director of Early Childhood Programs at Wheeler, participated in a August 26 virtual event from the YWCA Hartford Region, "Back to School: A Conversation Unpacking the Mental Backpack."

May is National Foster Care Month, a time to consider the many children and youth in need of loving homes and the professionals dedicating to finding foster families.

Students in Bristol Public Schools can access behavioral health services through school-based health clinics and related services provided by Wheeler.

Personal and professional experiences led Daniella and Jose to become foster parents. They understood the need in Connecticut, and they wanted to help. They have been Wheeler foster parents for two years.

February reminds us of the many ways that we can give and receive love. This idea is more important than ever, as we navigate this uncertain time. Wheeler's Allison Casinghino, foster care specialist, explains how to take the first step in becoming a foster parent.

If there's anything we've learned from the past year, it's the power of--and need for--community, particularly communities that work together for a better future that is focused on wellness, justice, and peace for all. Wheeler's new tagline, COMMUNITY | HEALTH | CARE, reflects all of these.

John and Brian Pica-Sneeden always wanted a large family, and they began fostering children 27 years ago. Since then, they have adopted five of their foster children and recently renewed their license with Wheeler to foster LGBTQ youth.

Wearing a blue surgical mask, Sabrina Trocchi stood outside the Susan Walkama Health and Wellness Center at the Wheeler Clinic’s expansive Hartford campus, not far from the center’s COVID-19 testing site. Trocchi, a former chief of staff with the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services a.nd previously Wheeler’s chief operating officer, was promoted to president and CEO in November 2019. Four months later, the coronavirus pandemic tested virtually everything she knew about leadership.

Many people talk about wanting to make a positive change in someone else’s life. Paula and Patrick Mills moved this quite literally into action 16 years ago becoming foster parents with Wheeler in 2004.

Wheeler is a 2020 Top Workplaces award winner from The Hartford Courant for the seventh time. In addition, Wheeler President and CEO Sabrina Trocchi, PhD, MPA, received “Top Leader” in the Large Employer category of the same survey.