Vinfen was founded in 1977, and ever since has welcomed the challenge of adapting to changing circumstances. Long known for its entrepreneurial spirit, Vinfen continues to refine its health-care delivery models, therapies, treatments, and technologies to ensure the best care for the people we serve.
A Movement
Service-delivery systems were once centered on large, state-operated institutions. In the ’70s, Vinfen and others helped lead the transition from institutions to systems based on individualized support and family-scale residential settings.
The movement away from institutionalization served as a watershed event in the care of people with mental illness, mental retardation, and behavioral health disabilities. It rightfully acknowledged that people deserve humane treatment and that everyone should be given the opportunity to live fulfilling, productive lives. Vinfen’s community services are also more cost-effective than those provided by institutional, state-run facilities.
At Vinfen, we see our work as part of a growing national movement. Few captured this sentiment better than former United States Vice President Hubert Humphrey, whose family knew firsthand the challenges of mental retardation:
“This is the test we must set for ourselves; not to march alone
but to march in a way that others will wish to join us.”
Commitment to Excellence
Vinfen takes pride in our commitment to management excellence. Only a well-run organization can deliver and sustain high-quality services over the long term. Our management team and procedures are highly disciplined, highly focused and highly regarded, earning widespread respect.
In 1999, Vinfen launched a tax-exempt bond issue, the first public offering by the Massachusetts Higher Education Finance Agency (HEFA) for a human services provider. Vinfen was also the first human services provider to obtain ACA insurance, earning an “A” rating from the Standard & Poor’s and Fitch/IBCA ratings agencies.
Our Name
Why the name Vinfen? Well, that’s where we were founded, right on the corner of Vining Street and Fenwood Road in the heart of Boston’s Longwood medical community. Today we are headquartered at 950 Cambridge Street in Cambridge’s Inman Square neighborhood.
