Togetherhood Initiative hopes to improve wellness care in Collier County

Bringing necessary services to a community in desperate need through a program called the Togetherhood Initiative. Together, groups provide everything from scholarships to wellness items.

The Togetherhood Initiative Community Center in Immokalee is one of a kind. A place that will help a group of people who don’t get much help.

“The greatest struggle for our patients here is to get access to care,” said Dr. Sal Anzalone, the medical director of pediatrics at Healthcare Network.

Anzalone has a passion for helping people. “We see things. Not just obesity and nutrition issues but things like autism and kids who have speech delays or developmental delays. To get speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy for some of our premature babies that may need ongoing therapy.”

The Togetherhood Initiative is a group of non-profit agencies. The goal is to be open and easy to access. No more driving to Naples or elsewhere for food, education, and medical attention.

“We’ve got to really make sure that those folks are not only educated and trained but supported with the resources that they need to do so that we can create these cultures of wellbeing for everybody everywhere,” said Chuck Gillespie, CEO of the National Wellness Institute.

“It’s hard because transportation and distance alone is a barrier on top of financial barriers, ethnicity barriers because there are populations that are higher risk for different complications of health, so, that’s important to realize, and anything we can do to improve their access to care is going to be a benefit,” said Angelina Bernier, associate professor at the University of Florida and director of the Metabolic and Obesity Program.

This is only a glimpse of what they’ll offer at this Immokalee location, but the hope is the facility will benefit all of Collier County.

You can learn more about the Togetherhood Initiative by visiting their website.