You may have had pie from Special Touch Bakery without even knowing it. “When you go to Wegmans and see the pies that have the hearts on them? We help make those for them,” says Jillian Nalivyko, marketing and public relations manager at the School of the Holy Childhood.
Special Touch Bakery has an integrated workforce. Its mission is “Purpose for All,” and it employs approximately 200 people, including some people with developmental disabilities who may need prompting and guidance to perform various job responsibilities. The result is an inclusive environment for people of all abilities. It’s a dynamic place that keeps evolving to become better, having outgrown several locations since its launch in 2018.
Special Touch first evolved from a baking program at School of the Holy Childhood, a Rochester-based nonprofit that works with children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The organization’s mission is to prepare people for “maximum independence and integration in the community through individualized programs and services.” A teacher at the school was looking for something adults could do, Nalivyko explains, “beyond just your standard classroom activities. And she came up with this opportunity to have people bake.” The students started out baking cookies, brownies, and pies. “The pies were obviously the biggest hit of all.”
The program expanded exponentially. Eventually it had to move out of the school because the demand for pies was so great. Today, the bakery remains under the Holy Childhood umbrella, Nalivyko explains. “So we essentially raise money here at Special Touch Bakery to help Holy Childhood.” Many Special Touch employees are graduates of the school, but many come from other backgrounds. “We really want to give people the opportunity to have a successful career, to make a competitive wage. And here at Special Touch Bakery, that opportunity is just endless for them.” Available jobs could include baking, mixing, packaging, cleaning, and more. “We focus on trying to find people’s best skill set,” Nalivyko says. “So, we’re making sure that people are happy with what they’re doing and getting something out of it too.” There is still a bakery at Holy Childhood, and it serves as a training facility. Oftentimes, people start out baking there, and working at Special Touch becomes a goal.
Megan Seedhouse is a baker who started out as a student at Holy Childhood, and she has been working at Special Touch since its inception—almost eight years now. When asked what she likes most about working there, she says it’s “the people.” She likes everyone she works with and says, “It’s a good team.” During her years at the bakery, she’s rolled with the changes as it has expanded. Of the new facility on Mushroom Boulevard, Seedhouse says she’s still getting used to it. “But I’m slowly starting to like it more and more.” Her favorite pie to make is strawberry rhubarb, but when it comes to eating them, she prefers pecan and chocolate cream pies.
Special Touch does not have a storefront, so the public can’t walk in and buy a pie. This leads to devoted fans buying at stores and restaurants across the Rochester area. The pies—with or without the Special Touch–branded logo—are available at many retail outlets and local restaurants. Wegmans is, of course, a key partnership, but many smaller businesses sell the pies as well. Red Bird Market in Fairport is a perfect example, Nalivyko says. “We make mini pies, and they have our mini pies on their shelves. So that’s wonderful.” Special Touch pies have been sold at Dell’s Market and Deli, Rockcastle Florist, and many other places. “It kind of keeps changing as things change in the market.” At a once-a-year holiday pie sale, the public can preorder pies directly from Special Touch and pick up their pies on the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving. This year, the holiday sale will launch mid-October and close about a week prior to pickup (the week of November 16). Customers can go to specialtouchbakery.org to make their purchases when the sale goes live. A variety of pie flavors will be available for pickup only. Customers will be able to select their pickup time and date when completing their order.
Special Touch also offers a popular and successful “whole pie” fundraising program, which benefits both the hosting organization and Special Touch. Nalivyko emphasizes that the fundraisers are flexible, easy to set up, and simple to run. Fundraisers are available year-round for schools, sports teams, and religious and community organizations. Pie varieties recently available for fundraisers include apple crumb, chocolate peanut butter, cherry, cannoli, and “Rumbleberry,” a combination of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries.
These days, Special Touch produces a lot of deliciousness. During fiscal year 2026, the bakery produced 91,308 cases of pies. The impressive industrial kitchen onsite is immaculate and feels like a well-oiled machine that has been there for years. But, in reality, the team only moved into its newest location in April of this year. Recently, Special Touch acquired Lanovara Specialty Foods, and that is how Special Touch ended up in its current space—the merged businesses are housed at the new facility on Mushroom Boulevard. Lanovara has been in business in Rochester since 1920 and specializes in baked goods like bread and hand-filled cannoli, and it also brings distribution expertise to the table. The acquisition broadens Special Touch Bakery’s product offerings beyond pies—cookies, cannoli, cakes, and other specialty desserts are available to businesses at wholesale prices. The acquisition also means that Special Touch can grow yet again—it may soon double the size of its workforce.
This merger was made possible due to a good relationship with the owners of Lanovara, Bert and Kim Salisbury. When Lanovara was originally approached several years ago to partner with a work-based learning program run by the School of the Holy Childhood, the company was “immediately on board,” Nalivyko says. And last year, when Burt decided to retire, “he worked with us … he was like, ‘look, I don’t want to see this place with anybody else.’” He now serves as a consultant at the merged companies. Nalivyko describes the new venture as a “family environment” and says that “it’s been fun to have the two companies merging together.”
From here, the future looks pretty sweet.
Find out more and keep up with the latest news at specialtouchbakery.org.
This article originally appeared in the November/December 2026 issue of (585).
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