The Beverly Foundation was founded in 1979 . Its original mission was to develop programs that reinforced and extended the health potential of the frail elderly residing in institutions, and to encourage seniors to live healthy, meaningful and productive lives. That mission developed by 1995 into programs that encouraged senior mobility and transportation. The Foundation planned and initiated many of its own projects, but also developed numerous partnerships, on both the state and national levels. One of the most important partnerships was with Beverly Enterprises, whose CEO Robert Van Tuyle was a founder and first Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation. Beverly Foundation projects addressed a number of issues pertinent to seniors, including the autonomy of older people within their communities; contingency planning for catastrophic illness or disability; importance of rehabilitation principles to quality care; policies and procedures for administrating drugs to nursing homes residents; and the need for formalized review of research studies to insure protection of the rights and welfare of human subjects, particularly those in long-term care settings, and to ensure their sense of personal integrity, respect, and citizenship.