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Helping Hands for the Disabled was established in 1975. The initial goal was to raise funds to help the developmentally disabled people who lived at Interlake Nursing Center in Bellevue. Funds were raised to buy specialized equipment and provide funds for camperships and recreational opportunities. They also purchased a van for an Eastside Group Home and paid college tuition for a young woman with Cerebral Palsy. In January, 1981 a decision was made to develop a group home that would serve people that no other agency was serving at that time. The target group was people who need support 24 hours per day for all aspects of daily living. The common factors were mental retardation and high supervision and support needs. We managed to get commitment from the State for an operating contract, and with that in hand, started searching for construction funds. That search led us to the Archdiocesan Housing Authority and a long-standing partnership to serve people with Developmental Disabilities. The AHA sponsored us for a HUD 202 loan to build a barrier-free home for eight people. That home became Champion House, which opened on April 8, 1983 and we at Helping Hands for the Disabled took a giant step into the world of residential services. Five of the eight residents moved from Interlake Nursing Center and we knew them and their needs, but three of our new residents were unknown to us, and unknown to each other. It would take a book to describe the growing pains we all experienced, but it was worth every bit of it. That group of eight people lived together and grew as a family until 1996 when one of the resident’s health needs could no longer be met at Champion House. Today, 24 years later, five of the original residents still live there and the dynamics have changed as new housemates have joined the family, but the pride we feel when we walk in and see those smiling faces can’t be matched. In 1985 we applied once again with AHA for another HUD loan and the resulting home was Halcyon which opened in February, 1987. We had learned a lot in three years, but we can’t say it was any easier. We still had eight new residents that didn’t know each other, many new staff and a new neighborhood that wasn’t too sure about a “group home.” We asked our neighbors to give us a chance and talk to our neighbors at Champion House. We assured them of our desire to be good neighbors to them, and to maintain the high standards of the community. Halcyon is 20 years old now and their residents have changed a little more, but they still have five of their original eight residents also. They are a family and they are good neighbors. Most of them have jobs and they come home at night to a home that is safe, clean and located in a vibrant neighborhood that has grown around them. In 1991, we started Visions. Two of our Halcyon residents needed more nursing than we could provide in a group home, but if they were living in their own home, we could provide the services they needed. They rented an apartment together and we provided all of their services in their home. We moved the Visions program to a newly-remodeled wheelchair accessible home in the Bridle Trails area of Kirkland in 1994 and began serving five people who are living in their own home. Trail House, the newest of our programs, is also an Intensive Tenant Support program. We serve three people who are living in a home they rent together. An urgent need to serve severely disabled young people who were aging out of children’s foster care and one of our clients needing a different kind of service, resulted in our development of our Trail House facility. Visions and Trail House are examples of how we at Helping Hands for the Disabled have changed and grown to enable us to continue serving our residents as their needs change. Our residents are actively involved in the communities they live in. We provide them with the appropriate support to allow them to achieve their potential, build their self esteem and enhance their community involvement. |
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- Mission Statement - To give people with
developmental disabilities the opportunity to achieve their potential,
build their self esteem and enhance their community involvement. To
accomplish this, we commit our energy and resources to advocate for and
support a continuum of creative living options. |
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© Helping Hands for the
Disabled,
2009 |