Mainstay helps developmentally disabled lead normal life

It was not easy for Steve Dobis to move his younger brother, Tom, out of his South Fayette home.
As the older brother, Steve was always protective of Tom. But, Steve and his wife, Rose, both worked and it was tough for them to give Tom, who is developmentally disabled, the life they felt he deserved. So, in 2012, the Dobis’s enrolled Tom in Mainstay Life Services, a Green Tree nonprofit that provides residential and other support services for the developmentally disabled and their families.
“It has really gotten him out of his shell,” said Dobis of his brother, who moved into a Mainstay residence in Mt. Lebanon that same year. Tom Dobis shares a tidy brick ranch home with two other developmentally disabled men who are 59 and 63, and they do their own cooking and cleaning.
“He seems to be doing well,” said Steve, who became a member of the Mainstay board of directors because of Tom, who recently turned 54.
Mainstay began in the late 1960s as two separate agencies that merged in 1999. It now serves 165 people in 38 homes, including apartment buildings, located throughout Allegheny County. Services offered by Mainstay include home and community support, specialized support and education, life sharing, a summer respite and recreation program and Prader-Willi Syndrome Support – Prader-Willi is a genetic condition that affects many parts of the body and includes poor muscle tone and behavioral issues in children.
“We are a life-long service,” said Dana Schutte, Mainstay’s chief operating officer.
Shutte said when Mainstay gets a new residential client the challenge is to try and pair that individual with people of the same sex and age group. There is also a staff member who stays overnight.
“We look at the dynamic of the group and we are always reassessing and looking at needs,” she said.
Mainstay makes sure residents at their homes have a set routine. Tom, for example, is picked up and taken to his job assembling various items with ACHIEVA, a South Side nonprofit that helps the disabled reach their potential.
When work is over for the day, he is brought back home where he cooks dinner with his roommates, cleans up, and spends the rest of the evening watching television or talking on the telephone with family or friends. He is a fan of wrestling and all Pittsburgh sports teams.
“I made a roast,” Tom told a visitor.
On weekends, Mainstay takes residents on day trips. Steve joked that Tom is so busy on weekends that it is tough for him to arrange a visit.
“He is more social here,” Rose Dobis said.
On Sept. 18, Mainstay will hold its annual Charlie Ross Memorial Golf Outing fundraiser at Lindenwood golf course in North Strabane. Last year’s event raised $25,000. For more information or to register, call 412-344-3640.