By Kim Sonafelt, Chief Executive Officer As we celebrate Direct Support Professional Week (9/8 – 9/14), I want to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude for the incredible work the Mainstay DSPs do every day. Your dedication, compassion, and unwavering commitment to enriching the lives and...
Thanks for making our Golf Outing a success! By Alexa Feorene, Mainstay’s Advancement & Engagement Summer Intern On Monday, June 24, 124 golfers joined us at The Club at Nevillewood for the 17th Annual Charlie Ross Memorial Charity Golf Outing. We had a beautiful day of bright blue...
The Journey to finding Pride is not Always Glitter and Rainbows By Gavin O’Marehen In June each year, millions of Queer folks and their allies embrace and celebrate Pride and what that means to them in their own authentic ways. Pride month became an official month-long celebration by...
By Lindsay Kondis, Peer Advocate My name is Lindsay Kondis. I am originally from Plum Borough. I have lived in Mt. Lebanon for almost 20 years with my roommate. When I was born in 1981, I stopped breathing three times and was rushed to Children’s Hospital. They unfortunately did not know I had...
By Tracy Clarke, LPC, NCC, Licensed Mental Health Clinician April is Autism Acceptance Month! This is a time dedicated to raise awareness, promote acceptance, inclusivity & connectedness, and celebrate individual differences and neurodiversity. Neurodivergent and neurodiverse are terms that...
By Maggy Schoonover, Program Manager Once it was known as familiar tremor, benign essential tremor, or hereditary tremor. It’s not just shaking or anxiety, it’s a neurological condition. It’s also not Parkinson’s. Seven to ten million Americans have this condition. I am not writing this blog to...
By Willette Walker, Chief Human Capital Officer A college or university is an institution of higher learning that provides educational enlightenment and social experiences to help prepare its students for life. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are different because they provide...
By Kim Sonafelt, Chief Executive Officer During the past five years, I have had the privilege of serving as the Chief Executive Officer of Mainstay Life Services where every day we support people with intellectual disabilities and autism (ID/A) as they live their best lives. This role has been...
By Nora Soule, Associate Director – Community Services Life Sharing is a type of residential program that enables a person with an intellectual disability to join a provider family, in their private home, as a fully participating member of the family. This long-term living situation promotes...
By Braden Scheib When I heard the words “school-to-couch pipeline,” I chose to leave the classroom and work with adults with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism (ID/A) in the community. Job seekers with ID/A are some of the most underemployed people in our society. However, the private school for...
By Kim Sonafelt, Chief Executive Officer At Mainstay Life Services, people are the core of our mission. Every day, we support hundreds of people with intellectual disabilities and autism (ID/A). But none of it is made possible without our dedicated staff, and because of them, we have so much to...
On the last Monday in June, 126 golfers hit the links at The Club at Nevillewood for the 16th Annual Charlie Ross Memorial Charity Golf Outing. Golfers were interrupted by not only one but two storms, with the second ending the outdoor portion of the day. Golfers were joined by 30+ additional...
