About Our history . . . For the past twenty years, the principals of Mainstay have focused on the relationship between people with intellectual or developmental disabilities (DD) and their nutrition and health. We’ve also studied how these interactions impact the supporting agencies. Mainstay has achieved meaningful results for organizations and individuals through our: Intimate knowledge and long association supporting people with developmental disabilities Innovative programs that emphasize new approaches and person-centered outcomes Understanding of not-for-profit management—operational and administrative challenges and opportunities In the early 1990s, Mainstay delivered nutritious and cost-effective meals to social service agencies and their residential customers. We provided thousands of meals per day, and ultimately enhanced our offerings to include nutritional analysis, food stamp funding, community integration curricula, Development consulting, and other services that secured Mainstay’s position as a respected, value-added partner to agencies. In the year 2000, we sold the prepared-meals business to concentrate on initiatives dedicated to the health and wellbeing of the DD population. While expanding Mainstay along these lines, we also founded Special Chefs™—a 501(c)(3) nonprofit—and introduced a wide range of programs to impart critical living-skills information and topical recommendations. To motivate customers and support staff to utilize our innovations, we conducted the Special Chefs® Blue Ribbon Contest, the only recipe and cooking competition exclusively for people with developmental disabilities. The world-famous chef, Charlie Trotter, hosted the event each year in the kitchen where he tapes his PBS television series. In 2003, James D. Vail, a principal of Mainstay, was asked to assume the Executive Director position at a longstanding social service agency that provides residential, day, vocational and other supports to three hundred people with developmental disabilities. Utilizing the knowledge base developed by Mainstay and Special Chefs over the previous fifteen years (ultimately named Fiore™), the concepts noted above were successfully implemented in the agency’s group homes and throughout the organization. A material reduction of obesity and other serious secondary medical conditions resulted among the residential customers with developmental disabilities, as did a substantial improvement to the financial and operational health of the organization. These remarkable innovations, along with dynamic programmatic execution, led to the achievement of unprecedented, consecutive three-year and four-year accreditations from CQL—all during Mr. Vail’s tenure as Executive Director. The agency earned a unique and respected reputation as a producer of compelling, broad-based outcomes. Based on the groundbreaking success for the individuals and the organization, Mainstay enhanced its mission so that Fiore's impact would be available to select agency partners. We carefully assembled an experienced team of knowledgeable professionals who have dedicated themselves to your specific goals related to nutrition, cooking, health, staff dynamics, fundraising and cost control. We were able to secure the backing of the USDA based on unique nutrition and health-specific outcomes, and now work in cooperation with this bureau. As a result, growing numbers of people with developmental disabilities are realizing better health and greatly improved quality-of-life experiences. In the process, social service agencies are being recognized as proactive, dynamic leaders. Click for more information about Mainstay's Founder.
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Special Chefs celebrates the cooking accomplishments of people with developmental disabilities.