News from Wheeler

In May, members of Wheeler's senior leadership team will enjoy cold buckets of water over their head to support mental health awareness, and raise funds for Wheeler.

This year, Wheeler celebrates the 40th anniversary of the construction of Northwest Village School (NVS) but its delivery of therapeutic education services nearly spans our entire 55-plus-year history.

Wheeler’s Community Support for Families (CSF) program marked its 13th birthday in recently, and there was a lot for this team to celebrate.

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.

Wheeler’s Extended Day Treatment (EDT) program offers comprehensive, intensive therapeutic afterschool services designed to support youth aged 6 to 17 and their families.

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. 

From “Poopons” that incentivize patients to do colorectal screenings, to deep dives into the patient check-in process, Wheeler staff routinely work across disciplines in continuous quality improvement (CQI) teams to improve health outcomes in our patients.

For more than 16 years, Wheeler’s Mobile Crisis Intervention Services (MCIS) program has served children and youth in the Greater Hartford region, right in their homes, schools, and communities. This approach helps to divert unnecessary visits to the emergency room or inpatient hospital stays.

Here are links to recent news stories highlighting federal-level funding developments and short- and longer-term impact on community health centers in Connecticut.

Garrett entered his senior year of high school with the goal of attending college. However, the track-and-field athlete needed assistance in getting over some hurdles to reach his goals. He was referred to LifeSet, which is called Transitional Supports for Emerging Adults (TSEA) in Connecticut.

Every day, across the state, dozens of Wheeler clinicians step out of their cars, ring a doorbell, and change lives in the most intimate setting, a family’s home.

A short video with Sharon Pendleton-Ponzani, director, Wheeler Foster Care Programs, highlights the need for loving foster homes in Connecticut and what individuals and families can do to help.

Valerie Fusco, a pediatric LPN for Wheeler's Susan Walkama Family Health & Wellness Center in Hartford, received the organization's second annual Ethics & Integrity Award. Valerie was nominated by her peers as part of the 2024 Health Care Compliance Association’s Corporate Compliance & Ethics week, November 3 through 9.

Sharon Pendleton-Ponzani, director, Wheeler’s Foster Care program, was a guest on Connoisseur Media’s “For the People Radio” show on November 17, where she highlighted Wheeler’s foster care programs and discussed the significance of National Adoption Month.

November is National Adoption Month, which is designed to raise awareness about the critical need for adoptive families for children and youth in foster care. It’s also a time to consider the urgent need for foster homes for hundreds of children and youth in Connecticut.