This year, we're proud to celebrate three decades of serving people of all abilities, responding to their hopes and dreams. We hope you will join us in commemorating this exciting time in our community and learn more about the vision that was born in 1989 and lives on to this day.
Join in our anniversary festivities!
Here's how you can get involved in this exciting milestone year for Mains'l.
Join us for our 30th Anniversary Picnic at at Centennial Park in Brooklyn Center on Saturday, September 7th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Learn more about our history and the story behind our founding with the timeline below.
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The History of Mains'l - A Guided Tour
We’re proud of our company’s history and the powerful vision that was behind its formation. Learn more about how we came to be through this timeline.
The impetus behind our vision
After visiting a large institution, our founder Terri Williams vowed to make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities.
Terri's journey begins
Terri Williams becomes an employee for Residential Alternatives, Inc., which later developed into Mains’l Services.
The beginning of waivered services
Waivered services are authorized by the Minnesota Department of Health and Human Services to provide home- and community-based services in Minnesota, shifting from institutional care.
The predecessor of Mains'l is formed
Independent Alternatives (later to become Mains’l Services) receives its Home and Community Based Services contract, supporting people in their family home.
The beginning of Supported Living Services
Independent Alternatives opens up its first Supported Living Services home.
Mains'l is officially formed
Mains’l Services is formally incorporated.
PCA services begin at Mains'l
The company begins offering Personal Care Assistant services.
Respite services begin at Mains'l
Mains’l begins offering Respite Services.
First accreditation
Mains’l receives its first Accredited with Distinction by The Council on Quality and Leadership.
Chuck comes aboard
Chuck Jakway, our director of operations and husband of founder Terri Williams, joins the Mains'l crew.
Mains'l enters the financial management space
Mains’l becomes a Fiscal Support Entity for people who self-direct their own services (Consumer Directed Community Supports and Consumer Support Grant programs.)
The company continues to grow
By this point, only ten years after being founded, Mains'l supports 265 people and has 419 members of its crew.
Mains'l launches in Florida
Mains'l begins supports people in behavioral and support living services in Florida, a support offered all the way until April 2008.
The first Florida FMS contract
Mains’l was awarded its first contract for Financial Management Services (FMS) with an agency in Florida.
Mains'l expands to California
The company begins offering services in California’s Far Northern Regional area.
Two decades of growth
By this point in the company's history, two decades after its founding, it supports 540 people and has over 900 crew members.
The Mains'l Africa mission trips begin
Mains’l embarks on its first Africa mission trip in Zimbabwe, a yearly tradition of service continuing to this very day. In these trips, we partner with The Mother Africa Trust and H20 For Life. Read the blog for our 2019 Africa Mission trip team here.
An FMS win in California
Mains’l was awarded its first contract for FMS for people who self-direct in California.
Mains'l expands to Alaska
Mains’l begins offering residential and behavioral services in Alaska, which continues through June 2016.
FMS contract begins in New York
Mains’l was awarded its first contract for FMS services and software to an agency in New York.
Mains'l realigns itself as a person centered organization
The company begins a redesign of its systems, policies, procedures and practices, aligning all aspects of operations in person-centered practices and approaches, with assistance from the Department of Human Services, Support Development Associates, and the Institute on Community Integration.
The company rebrands as The Business of Hopes and Dreams
Mains'l launches a new rebranding effort and marketing plan called The Business of Hopes and Dreams, leveraging its proud history of supporting people in reaching their own hopes and dreams.
A contract with Minnesota Dept. of Human Services
Mains’l enrolls with Minnesota Department of Human Services to be a Financial Management Services entity for people in self-directed programs (previously referred to as Fiscal Support Entity.)
Where we're at today, after 30 years of service
As of April 2019, three decades from our founding:
- We support 1,658 people and employ 1,085 in Minnesota and California.
- We offer Financial Management Services to agencies in New York, Florida, and Kentucky to 4,528 people who self-direct their services.
- We offer a wide array of supports and services in Minnesota and California to people as they live a life of their choosing.
- We provide consultation, training, and financial management services and software to agencies across the nation.
Our navigators are here to help you chart your course. Contact them today.