Mainstay Unlocked Blog
Mainstay Celebrates Direct Support Professional Recognition Week 2024
Sept 8, 2024Mainstay Celebrates Direct Support Professional Recognition Week 2024By Kim Sonafelt, Chief Executive OfficerAs 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...
Thanks for Making Our Golf Outing a Success!
July 10, 2024Thanks for making our Golf Outing a success!By Alexa Feorene, 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...
June is Pride Month
June 14, 2024June is Pride MonthBy GOIn June each year, millions of Queer folks and their allies embrace Pride and what that means to them in their own authentic ways. Pride month became an official month-long celebration by President Bill Clinton in June 1999, the...
May is Prader-Willi Syndrome Awareness Month
May 15, 2024May is Prader-Willi Syndrome Awareness MonthBy Lindsay Kondis, Peer AdvocateMy 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...
April is Autism Acceptance Month
April 15, 2024April is Autism Acceptance MonthBy Tracy Clarke, LPC, NCC, Licensed Mental Health ClinicianApril is Autism Acceptance Month! This is a time dedicated to raise awareness, promote acceptance, inclusivity & connectedness, and celebrate individual...
March is Essential Tremor Awareness Month
March 12, 2024March is Essential Tremor Awareness MonthBy 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....
A Love Letter to My HBCU
Feb 15, 2024A Love Letter to My HBCUBy Willette Walker, Chief Human Capital OfficerA 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...
Reflections on My First Five Years at Mainstay
Dec 13, 2023Reflections on My First Five Years at MainstayBy Kim Sonafelt, Chief Executive OfficerDuring 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...
Life Sharing at Mainstay
Nov 8, 2023Life Sharing at MainstayBy Nora Soule, Associate Director – Community ServicesLife 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...
They Call it the School-to-Couch Pipeline… Let’s Partner to End it
Oct 3, 2023They Call it the School-to-Couch Pipeline... Let's Partner to End itBy Braden ScheibWhen 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...