April 24, 2024 • 12 mins
Save the Date! On Thursday, May 16, 2024, Malta House of Care will celebrate this year’s Wonder Women class at the Celebrating Wonder Women ’24 awards ceremony and fundraiser at The Bushnell from 5:30-8:30pm. All proceeds will support the work of the Malta House of Care – providing free comprehensive primary health care for uninsured adults in the Greater Hartford area.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Ihur Communities. Thank you so muchfor listening. I'm Renee Denino and I
love my new friendship with a MaltaHouse. Now, honestly, it's not
new. We met years ago Bertie'sfor charity with the Travelers Championship, and
we've struck up a great friendship.It's Malta House of Care Clinic Greater Harvard
and they're having an incredible event.It's their Celebrating Wonder Woman event on Thursday,
(00:20):
May sixteenth. This is open tothe public. You'll get to see
incredible women of Malta House. It'sa ceremony and fundraiser. Tickets still available
to the event that's happening at theBushnell at Malta Houseofcare dot org. You're
going to click on the tab thatsays Malta House of Care Celebrating Wonder Woman
Now. To tell us all aboutit is their director of Development, Betsy
(00:41):
Walsh. Thank you for joining me, Hi Rene, thanks for having me
today. I'm so excited. Ican't believe I'm going to empcee this incredible
event with all of these incredible women. It's such an honor. Thank you
so much for having me. Well, thank you for agreeing to join us.
We're actually really excited to have you, and you're going to be like
one of the wonder women up thereon stage for I'm amazed at what you
(01:02):
do. Oh my gosh. Youknow, this is just going to be
a wonderful, uplifting night women supportingwomen. Everyone is invited to this and
the proceeds will support the work ofMalta House of Care, which does provide
free, comprehensive primary healthcare for uninsuredadults in the Greater Hertford area. Betsy,
(01:23):
even before we talk about this wonderfulevening, can you just remind our
audience what Malta Care does. Sure, Malta actually started just about eighteen years
ago. We opened our doors topatients. We provide, as you stated,
primary care to uninsured adults in GreaterHartford, and since two thousand and
six we have seen over had overseventy eight thousand patient visits. Last year
(01:47):
alone, we saw over forty eighthundred patient visits and that was close to
thirteen hundred individual patients. It wasup fourteen percent over twenty twenty two.
But wow, a lot of peopledon't understand that there's of like this sandwich
population between people that qualify for soroughlyfunded health care and people that have their
(02:07):
own healthcare. And then there's peoplethat either have a couple of part time
jobs that don't provide healthcare, havejobs that don't have health care, are
strapped paying for you know, rent, food, to childcare, clothing,
all that sort of thing, andjust can't afford healthcare. So we provide
that healthcare for people. They scheduleappointments. We have a small staff of
(02:31):
providers and medical assistants, and thenwe have about fifty medically licensed volunteers that
come in doctors, apr ns,aren'ts. That are just our lifeline.
And a shout out to all ofthem because it is a Volunteer Appreciation Week
this week, so we are gratefulto all the work they do for us.
(02:53):
Now, the women that are beinghonored are absolutely incredible, and i'd
love for you to, you know, take a little time and talk a
little bit on First. Let's startwith deb Bibbins. She is a visionary
leader and founder for All Ages,one of your women, your wonder women,
Yeah she is. She took aconcept and it's really it's wonderful.
(03:15):
So she pairs together older people withcollege students, they have like a weekly
check and they call it TI Athree and they just connect with each other
and it helps both come back lonelinessand isolation. It just it really helps
older adults feel a part of somethingand also feel needed they and it helps
(03:38):
the college kids that just you know, might need somebody to talk to.
That's me, Thatt, mom ordad, I want to talk to somebody
else find now and for all ages. Has been a wonderful guest in our
program. So I just applaud yourchoice of deb Bibbins, and of course
I applaud another choice of yours,Kate Grady Benson, who's the executive director
(03:59):
for the Farmington Land Trust. Well, Kate has been working as executive director
for the Farmington Land Trust for anumber of years and she's just a Dinamo.
She is working very hard to preserveopen land space which helped to mitigate
climate change. Exposes the schools inthe Greater Hertford area. They can come,
(04:21):
they can see some of the preservedspaces, some of the buildings they
preserved for historical purposes and for environmentalpurposes. So with an educational opportunity as
well as benefiting the community, benefitingour environment. And she was amazing as
soon as she kind of came intothe group because we all met earlier this
(04:43):
year, except for Jessica who wasunable to join us, but everyone just
sort of instantly clicked. And thatamazes me. Every time we pick a
group of women, within ten minutesof them meeting each other, they click
and they're all working together. Theother two of the women from last year
are coming together because they started workingtogether. I love their individual efforts.
(05:05):
We love it. So Kate isa collaborator and works with many in the
Greater Harford area and in the Farmingtonarea, and it's doing a great job
helping preserve our land. Thursday Maysixteenth, by the way, in case
I didn't mention it the last time, Thursday May sixteenth is when celebrating wonder
Woman twenty four. The awards,ceremony and fundraiser will happen at the Bushnell
(05:26):
starting at five thirty again. Allproceeds to benefit Malta House of Care Malta
Housefcare dot org to get your tickets. Now, I want to talk about
another wonder Woman that will be adat the event. That's going to be
you know, sort of highlighted becauseI get to be on stage with these
women and I feel like I'm notworthy to be in all of their presence.
(05:46):
But the next lady we're going totalk about is Abby Sullivan Moore,
who is the founder and the leaderof Footwear with Care. So tell me
about her. Oh. Abby startedin twenty sixteen working with harperd Police officer
Jimmy Barrett. And what they dois they go out into Harper community and
they provide essentral footwear, socks,medical foot exams to the homeless. So
(06:09):
think about it when you're walking aroundand you don't have a decent pair of
shoes on, you know there's ahole in it, they're worn whatever,
how awful you feel. And theygo out there and they just take care
of everybody up to like I wellover one thousand individuals each year and provide
them with the fook here they need. Again, every year when we get
our nominations, I'm always strucking like, oh, I've really never thought of
(06:31):
that, which means filly, butit's just you don't really think you're absolutely
right, Betsy. And the numberone request from homeless shelters is socks covering
for the feet So this is justI love this and I can't wait to
see here in the evening and youcan too. This is open to the
public. I want to get toGladys or Rivera who really was chosen because
of her spirit of community and service, working diligently to ensure that Latino and
(06:56):
Puerto Rican community members are educated onthe important and impact of voting and civic
engagement. She is just out therestreet a street warrior, if you will,
making sure that everybody's voice is heard. Tell me about Gladys. Oh,
Gladys is wonderful. She is.I've read she's called the godmother of
(07:16):
the Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade.She's heavily involved with the Latino community.
And my favorite thing was I heardabout the mural and I took a ride
and went over and thought, thereis a stunning mural of her in the
Frog Hollow on the corner of Parkin Peter Streets, just honoring the dedication
she is given to the Latino communityin Greater Harpford and Puerto Rican community in
(07:43):
supporting them and like you said,getting people to make sure the voices are
heard and make sure they're engaged inwhat's going on in their community. And
she's a lovely lady. And whenwe got together, we went to a
little restaurant, Hello by Feet.She knew like five people, like everybody
knows classes, everybody knows the gladshe Her work is in the mural is
(08:05):
absolutely stunning if you haven't seen it, and I love that she's going to
be there and last, but certainlynot least, And just a wonderful way
to round up this panel of wonderfulwonder women is Jessica Zach's, the share
and CEO of Dignity Grows. Tellme about all the incredible work that Jessica
does for women, and another toyour point, Betsy, you don't necessarily
(08:26):
think about it, especially if you'renot in the position that some of these
women are who need Jessica's help andassistance. Right, oh right, this
was the one that got me.I just thought I never thought of it.
But femine hygiene products are terribly expensive, and if you don't have that
extra money to pay for it everymonth, you're you're hindered. You're kind
(08:48):
of stuck with that. So shestarted Dignity Grows and they combat period poverty
is the term that they use,which is perfect, and they make get
contributions, they make package they getthem to the school so that young women
are not missing school because they don'thave the products they need to go out.
(09:13):
And the chapter kind of took off, the whole Dignoduros took off,
and now it's it's kind of nationwideand she speaks at various organizations locally and
nationally and works with other people.And it's just like you said, you
don't really think about it because it'snot an issue for you. But if
it's an issue you really you don'tleave the house. You know you're you're
(09:37):
absolutely right, And Betsy, Iwant to just say thank you to you,
the entire team over at Malta Houseof Care Clinics, because you know,
you hear people say this. Youhear people say this no matter where
you are, whatever wherever you work, you always hear Oh, women have
to support women. I truly wantto say that your organization and the people
that I have met truly embody thatstatement. Women supporting women. And it's
(10:00):
easy to post a meme on socialmedia and say you support women. It's
it's easy to say it right andto be you know, and just to
say it. But you guys putyour money where your mouths are, right,
That's the best way I can sayyou truly support women and find other
women who truly want to support otherwomen and want to see people succeed.
(10:22):
Now, that's not the only partof your organization, obviously, you do
so much more than that for allpeople of the community. But I love
this event. I love that youchose me to be your MC. I'm
like, I have goosebumps because I'mlike, oh my gosh, I'm gonna
be standing on the stage like I'mnervous because these women are so powerful and
incredible and to be in their presenceand to be with you and help support
(10:45):
your mission. I really hope peoplewill take an opportunity to go to Malta
House of Care celebrating wonder Woman.It is Thursday, May sixteenth at the
Bushnell starting at five point thirty pm. To get your tickets, you can
go to Malta House of Care dotorg. I will have the link up
for you at mycommunity access dot com. Again, I will be there.
(11:05):
This event is a fundraiser that willhelp support the work of multi House of
Care providing free, comprehensive primary healthcarefor uninsured adults in the Greater Herford area.
And these are men women doesn't matter, right, I mean, this
event is celebrating women, but youhelp all people. We do. If
you're eighteen and older and you don'thave insurance, that's who we take care
(11:28):
of. Granted, about sixty sevenpercent of our patient population is female,
but that's just the way the womenare ruling the world. What can we
say? Thanks, I love you, but we're very excited to have you
and it is it's a wonderful night. It's our one and only fundraising event
that we do. This is theonly event we do all year long to
(11:50):
help support all the costs for thecare, the medications, lab testing,
x rays, everything that our patientsneed for just primary basic healthcare. So
we appreciate your joining us and agreeingto m see for us. We're very
excited about it and we're looking forwardto seeing everybody at the bush now.
All right, thank you so much. Betsy Wilsh, Director of Development from
(12:11):
Malta House of Care. For moredetails that you can visit them online at
Malta Houseofcare dot org and of courseI'll have a direct link up at mycommunity
Access dot com, see you,see you at the event. The Awards
Women. Oh my gosh, wonderWoman. I can't wait. Betsy,
thanks very nice. We can't waiteither,
Ihur Communities. Thank you so muchfor listening. I'm Renee Denino and I
love my new friendship with a MaltaHouse. Now, honestly, it's not
new. We met years ago Bertie'sfor charity with the Travelers Championship, and
we've struck up a great friendship.It's Malta House of Care Clinic Greater Harvard
and they're having an incredible event.It's their Celebrating Wonder Woman event on Thursday,
(00:20):
May sixteenth. This is open tothe public. You'll get to see
incredible women of Malta House. It'sa ceremony and fundraiser. Tickets still available
to the event that's happening at theBushnell at Malta Houseofcare dot org. You're
going to click on the tab thatsays Malta House of Care Celebrating Wonder Woman
Now. To tell us all aboutit is their director of Development, Betsy
(00:41):
Walsh. Thank you for joining me, Hi Rene, thanks for having me
today. I'm so excited. Ican't believe I'm going to empcee this incredible
event with all of these incredible women. It's such an honor. Thank you
so much for having me. Well, thank you for agreeing to join us.
We're actually really excited to have you, and you're going to be like
one of the wonder women up thereon stage for I'm amazed at what you
(01:02):
do. Oh my gosh. Youknow, this is just going to be
a wonderful, uplifting night women supportingwomen. Everyone is invited to this and
the proceeds will support the work ofMalta House of Care, which does provide
free, comprehensive primary healthcare for uninsuredadults in the Greater Hertford area. Betsy,
(01:23):
even before we talk about this wonderfulevening, can you just remind our
audience what Malta Care does. Sure, Malta actually started just about eighteen years
ago. We opened our doors topatients. We provide, as you stated,
primary care to uninsured adults in GreaterHartford, and since two thousand and
six we have seen over had overseventy eight thousand patient visits. Last year
(01:47):
alone, we saw over forty eighthundred patient visits and that was close to
thirteen hundred individual patients. It wasup fourteen percent over twenty twenty two.
But wow, a lot of peopledon't understand that there's of like this sandwich
population between people that qualify for soroughlyfunded health care and people that have their
(02:07):
own healthcare. And then there's peoplethat either have a couple of part time
jobs that don't provide healthcare, havejobs that don't have health care, are
strapped paying for you know, rent, food, to childcare, clothing,
all that sort of thing, andjust can't afford healthcare. So we provide
that healthcare for people. They scheduleappointments. We have a small staff of
(02:31):
providers and medical assistants, and thenwe have about fifty medically licensed volunteers that
come in doctors, apr ns,aren'ts. That are just our lifeline.
And a shout out to all ofthem because it is a Volunteer Appreciation Week
this week, so we are gratefulto all the work they do for us.
(02:53):
Now, the women that are beinghonored are absolutely incredible, and i'd
love for you to, you know, take a little time and talk a
little bit on First. Let's startwith deb Bibbins. She is a visionary
leader and founder for All Ages,one of your women, your wonder women,
Yeah she is. She took aconcept and it's really it's wonderful.
(03:15):
So she pairs together older people withcollege students, they have like a weekly
check and they call it TI Athree and they just connect with each other
and it helps both come back lonelinessand isolation. It just it really helps
older adults feel a part of somethingand also feel needed they and it helps
(03:38):
the college kids that just you know, might need somebody to talk to.
That's me, Thatt, mom ordad, I want to talk to somebody
else find now and for all ages. Has been a wonderful guest in our
program. So I just applaud yourchoice of deb Bibbins, and of course
I applaud another choice of yours,Kate Grady Benson, who's the executive director
(03:59):
for the Farmington Land Trust. Well, Kate has been working as executive director
for the Farmington Land Trust for anumber of years and she's just a Dinamo.
She is working very hard to preserveopen land space which helped to mitigate
climate change. Exposes the schools inthe Greater Hertford area. They can come,
(04:21):
they can see some of the preservedspaces, some of the buildings they
preserved for historical purposes and for environmentalpurposes. So with an educational opportunity as
well as benefiting the community, benefitingour environment. And she was amazing as
soon as she kind of came intothe group because we all met earlier this
(04:43):
year, except for Jessica who wasunable to join us, but everyone just
sort of instantly clicked. And thatamazes me. Every time we pick a
group of women, within ten minutesof them meeting each other, they click
and they're all working together. Theother two of the women from last year
are coming together because they started workingtogether. I love their individual efforts.
(05:05):
We love it. So Kate isa collaborator and works with many in the
Greater Harford area and in the Farmingtonarea, and it's doing a great job
helping preserve our land. Thursday Maysixteenth, by the way, in case
I didn't mention it the last time, Thursday May sixteenth is when celebrating wonder
Woman twenty four. The awards,ceremony and fundraiser will happen at the Bushnell
(05:26):
starting at five thirty again. Allproceeds to benefit Malta House of Care Malta
Housefcare dot org to get your tickets. Now, I want to talk about
another wonder Woman that will be adat the event. That's going to be
you know, sort of highlighted becauseI get to be on stage with these
women and I feel like I'm notworthy to be in all of their presence.
(05:46):
But the next lady we're going totalk about is Abby Sullivan Moore,
who is the founder and the leaderof Footwear with Care. So tell me
about her. Oh. Abby startedin twenty sixteen working with harperd Police officer
Jimmy Barrett. And what they dois they go out into Harper community and
they provide essentral footwear, socks,medical foot exams to the homeless. So
(06:09):
think about it when you're walking aroundand you don't have a decent pair of
shoes on, you know there's ahole in it, they're worn whatever,
how awful you feel. And theygo out there and they just take care
of everybody up to like I wellover one thousand individuals each year and provide
them with the fook here they need. Again, every year when we get
our nominations, I'm always strucking like, oh, I've really never thought of
(06:31):
that, which means filly, butit's just you don't really think you're absolutely
right, Betsy. And the numberone request from homeless shelters is socks covering
for the feet So this is justI love this and I can't wait to
see here in the evening and youcan too. This is open to the
public. I want to get toGladys or Rivera who really was chosen because
of her spirit of community and service, working diligently to ensure that Latino and
(06:56):
Puerto Rican community members are educated onthe important and impact of voting and civic
engagement. She is just out therestreet a street warrior, if you will,
making sure that everybody's voice is heard. Tell me about Gladys. Oh,
Gladys is wonderful. She is.I've read she's called the godmother of
(07:16):
the Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade.She's heavily involved with the Latino community.
And my favorite thing was I heardabout the mural and I took a ride
and went over and thought, thereis a stunning mural of her in the
Frog Hollow on the corner of Parkin Peter Streets, just honoring the dedication
she is given to the Latino communityin Greater Harpford and Puerto Rican community in
(07:43):
supporting them and like you said,getting people to make sure the voices are
heard and make sure they're engaged inwhat's going on in their community. And
she's a lovely lady. And whenwe got together, we went to a
little restaurant, Hello by Feet.She knew like five people, like everybody
knows classes, everybody knows the gladshe Her work is in the mural is
(08:05):
absolutely stunning if you haven't seen it, and I love that she's going to
be there and last, but certainlynot least, And just a wonderful way
to round up this panel of wonderfulwonder women is Jessica Zach's, the share
and CEO of Dignity Grows. Tellme about all the incredible work that Jessica
does for women, and another toyour point, Betsy, you don't necessarily
(08:26):
think about it, especially if you'renot in the position that some of these
women are who need Jessica's help andassistance. Right, oh right, this
was the one that got me.I just thought I never thought of it.
But femine hygiene products are terribly expensive, and if you don't have that
extra money to pay for it everymonth, you're you're hindered. You're kind
(08:48):
of stuck with that. So shestarted Dignity Grows and they combat period poverty
is the term that they use,which is perfect, and they make get
contributions, they make package they getthem to the school so that young women
are not missing school because they don'thave the products they need to go out.
(09:13):
And the chapter kind of took off, the whole Dignoduros took off,
and now it's it's kind of nationwideand she speaks at various organizations locally and
nationally and works with other people.And it's just like you said, you
don't really think about it because it'snot an issue for you. But if
it's an issue you really you don'tleave the house. You know you're you're
(09:37):
absolutely right, And Betsy, Iwant to just say thank you to you,
the entire team over at Malta Houseof Care Clinics, because you know,
you hear people say this. Youhear people say this no matter where
you are, whatever wherever you work, you always hear Oh, women have
to support women. I truly wantto say that your organization and the people
that I have met truly embody thatstatement. Women supporting women. And it's
(10:00):
easy to post a meme on socialmedia and say you support women. It's
it's easy to say it right andto be you know, and just to
say it. But you guys putyour money where your mouths are, right,
That's the best way I can sayyou truly support women and find other
women who truly want to support otherwomen and want to see people succeed.
(10:22):
Now, that's not the only partof your organization, obviously, you do
so much more than that for allpeople of the community. But I love
this event. I love that youchose me to be your MC. I'm
like, I have goosebumps because I'mlike, oh my gosh, I'm gonna
be standing on the stage like I'mnervous because these women are so powerful and
incredible and to be in their presenceand to be with you and help support
(10:45):
your mission. I really hope peoplewill take an opportunity to go to Malta
House of Care celebrating wonder Woman.It is Thursday, May sixteenth at the
Bushnell starting at five point thirty pm. To get your tickets, you can
go to Malta House of Care dotorg. I will have the link up
for you at mycommunity access dot com. Again, I will be there.
(11:05):
This event is a fundraiser that willhelp support the work of multi House of
Care providing free, comprehensive primary healthcarefor uninsured adults in the Greater Herford area.
And these are men women doesn't matter, right, I mean, this
event is celebrating women, but youhelp all people. We do. If
you're eighteen and older and you don'thave insurance, that's who we take care
(11:28):
of. Granted, about sixty sevenpercent of our patient population is female,
but that's just the way the womenare ruling the world. What can we
say? Thanks, I love you, but we're very excited to have you
and it is it's a wonderful night. It's our one and only fundraising event
that we do. This is theonly event we do all year long to
(11:50):
help support all the costs for thecare, the medications, lab testing,
x rays, everything that our patientsneed for just primary basic healthcare. So
we appreciate your joining us and agreeingto m see for us. We're very
excited about it and we're looking forwardto seeing everybody at the bush now.
All right, thank you so much. Betsy Wilsh, Director of Development from
(12:11):
Malta House of Care. For moredetails that you can visit them online at
Malta Houseofcare dot org and of courseI'll have a direct link up at mycommunity
Access dot com, see you,see you at the event. The Awards
Women. Oh my gosh, wonderWoman. I can't wait. Betsy,
thanks very nice. We can't waiteither,
Popular Podcasts
Boysober
Have you ever wondered what life might be like if you stopped worrying about being wanted, and focused on understanding what you actually want? That was the question Hope Woodard asked herself after a string of situationships inspired her to take a break from sex and dating. She went "boysober," a personal concept that sparked a global movement among women looking to prioritize themselves over men. Now, Hope is looking to expand the ways we explore our relationship to relationships. Taking a bold, unfiltered look into modern love, romance, and self-discovery, Boysober will dive into messy stories about dating, sex, love, friendship, and breaking generational patterns—all with humor, vulnerability, and a fresh perspective.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com