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Human Services

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust is supporting the construction of intensive care living units and the modernization of existing facilities that will enable Abbott House to provide state of the art psychiatric and rehabilitative care to girls who are victims of sexual abuse.

Often times, young women who have experienced sexual, physical, emotional, and mental abuse act out with self-harming behavior in response to this severe trauma. Due to the severity of their experiences and the lack of family support and structure, providing residential treatment is usually the most effective way to help prevent further isolation or eventual hospitalization. The new facilities and initiative will allow Abbott House to ensure the best possible treatment for its young residents, strengthen families and help girls return to life in the community with an improved ability to cope and succeed.

Founded during the Great Depression, Abbott House has provided residential treatment for vulnerable girls between the age of 9 and 17 since 1973. In its 38 bed facility, the agency provides each girl intensive treatment and a special education school program for an average of 12 to 15 months.

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust is supporting a construction project that will expand and remodel the special education school on the campus of Sioux Falls Children's Home.

The current school facility was constructed in 1987 when average enrollment was approximately 40 students. Today almost 90 children attend the school. The project will consist of two new classrooms, a dedicated space for psychological and psychiatric testing and educational assessments, a library, a multi-purpose room, a reconfigured public entrance, and a work area for the Information and Technology staff.

Children's Home Society is a licensed and accredited children's human services agency serving over 2,000 children each year through residential treatment, education, emergency shelter, forensic interview & examinations centers, foster care and adoption services and relative placements.

The grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust supports Community Servings, Inc.’s programs to prepare, package and deliver 377,000 medically-tailored meals to 1,400 home-bound clients annually.

Founded in 1989, Community Servings, Inc. provides customized, nutritional meals and snacks to individuals with life-threatening illnesses throughout the Greater Boston area.

The grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust supports the work of a nonprofit management consultant to help Helen Keller National Center, a program of Helen Keller Services for the Blind, create a strategic plan for its current and future work. In addition, the grant will help HKNC make critical repairs to its facility in Long Island.

The planning grant will help the organization review its current programs, facilities, governance and administration in order to position it for long-term growth and stability as one of the key organizations serving the deaf-blind population. In addition, the grant will allow the organization to make needed capital repairs.

Authorized by an Act of Congress in 1967, the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults is the only national non-profit organization that exclusively serves individuals who have combined vision and hearing loss. Helen Keller National Center offers an array of comprehensive services for individuals who are deaf-blind, their families and the professionals who serve them through its headquarters in Sands Point, NY, and ten regional offices across the country.

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust is supporting the construction of a food factory and warehouse to help provide food aid to local communities in southern Africa.

In Mozambique, Rwanda, Angola and Sudan—four of the most devastated countries on the continent - crucial shortages of highly nutritious fortified foods in the region hamper efforts to address both chronic and emergency nutritional needs. The factory and warehouse will enable rapid response to Southern African emergencies. At the same time, the warehouse and processing facility will work to develop local agriculture by integrating small African farmers into the humanitarian and commercial export sectors, thereby increasing their incomes and household security for these farm families.

Joint Aid Management is an African-founded non-profit organization based in Johannesburg, South Africa which has been working in relief and development activities in Africa for the past 24 years and currently operates programs in Angola, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. In particular, JAM operates food factories in Angola and Mozambique, and maintains a network of farms, in-country transport fleets, and warehouses to efficiently grow food and distribute aid received from the United States, Canada, and the European Union.

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust is supporting the construction of a new four-unit Multi-Family Housing Project at St. Francis House in the Sioux Falls area, where the number of homeless families is growing at an alarming rate.

St. Francis House is often the best alternative for families seeking to escape violent living situations, as the local housing authority’s subsidized housing program has 2,000 wait-listed applicants and an average placement period of two years. During the time they are in residence, parents can focus on obtaining employment and securing long-term housing. In addition, program staff at St. Francis will integrate new residents into its support services, helping parents to develop necessary life skills while their family’s basic needs of food, clothing and shelter are met.

The St. Francis House started serving homeless individuals in 1987. Since then, the organization has provided supportive services to an average of 425 people per year, helping its clients with issues of addiction, disability, mental health, and physical well-being.