In The News
After over 40 years of training and placing capuchin monkeys to help adults with severe mobility impairments live more independent and engaged lives, we are transitioning our organization to focus on the benefits of the human animal bond interaction.
We want let you know about a security breach at one of our vendors, Blackbaud, one of the largest companies in the world supporting the fundraising and engagement efforts of large and small charities, including foundations, educational institutions, healthcare institutions, and nonprofit organizations like Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers.
Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers announced the appointment of Robin Dorogusker to its Board of Directors, effective April 16, 2020.
After careful thought and much deliberation, we have made the decision to suspend new placements of our service monkeys and to stop accepting inquiries at this time. We made this decision for the following reasons:
- We do not know if or how the COVID-19 virus may affect our monkey population. Since this is a new virus and there is very little known about it, we must take extreme precaution and assume it could infect our monkeys.
- The people we serve, those living with spinal cord injuries or progressive diseases such as multiple sclerosis or muscular dystrophy, often have compromised immune systems due to these conditions. When we make a new placement, two of our trainers travel with the monkey (often via airplane) to the home of the recipient and spend a week there to set up the new placement. We feel there are too many opportunities in this process for the people and monkey involved to potentially contract the virus and pass it along to others. We do not want to put our recipients, our staff, or our monkeys at greater risk than necessary.
Helping Hands recipient Travis and his service monkey, Siggy were featured on Animal Planet's Canadian documentary series Collar of Duty.
The original 12-part series, recently released for limited viewing within the U.S., focuses on the lives of those transformed by a therapeutic or service animal. These amazing true stories—a poodle assisting with a boy's epileptic seizures, a war veteran finding solace in his rescue parrots, a miniature horse that can detect low blood sugar, just to name a few—all center around the priceless human-animal bond.
Helping Hands recipient Kent, and his service monkey, Farah, are in a full-length online article in Parade Magazine!
An engaging article focusing on the special relationship that one of the Helping Hands recipients, Travis has with his service monkey, Siggy and illustrating the difference Siggy makes in Travis’s daily life
While we’re tracking the breakthroughs and discoveries that move us closer to solving the riddle of multiple sclerosis, it’s also important to remember that people living with MS need help today. My guests on the podcast are Angela Lett and Alison Payne from Helping Hands, a non-profit organization...
Though dogs might be the best-known service animal, the Boston-based nonprofit Helping Hands has been providing trained capuchin monkeys to assist people with spinal cord injury and other mobility impairments since 1979.
Monkey Business: Need help with daily living? A trained capuchin monkey might be the solution. Corrine Peters was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 1986. Two years later, she was using a scooter. Twenty years later, she had trouble standing on her own and completing routine tasks such as moving laundry from the washer to the dryer. Living independently was becoming increasingly difficult.
After a spinal cord injury, the simplest tasks can become daunting. At Helping Hands, capuchin monkeys are trained to help people with disabilities regain their independence and confidence.
Alison Payne is the director of training for Helping Hands. Q. What does Helping Hands do, and what does your job involve? A. Helping Hands is a nonprofit that trains and places capuchin monkeys to assist people with limited physical mobility.
Standing less than 2 feet tall, capuchin monkeys are known for their dexterity, easygoing ways—and total adorableness. But the capuchins at Helping Hands, a nonprofit in Boston, are also hardworking heroes...
Mary Kay and Amy celebrated their 10 year anniversary together in 2014.
A Boston-based charity trains capuchin monkeys to aid people who have mobility issues. The monkeys are making a big difference in the lives of people with MS.
The graduates of this college aren't just monkeying around. Their little hands make a big difference.
On the surface, almost everything about the friendship between Scott and Melanie is what you would expect between two 30-somethings who have shared a house for a little over a year.
Assistance animals, their clients and their trainers create lifelong bonds of love and support | By Jim Gullo
An Interview with mobileWOMAN, Maryanne McCauley About her Helper Monkey, Jessica!
Kasey to the Rescue: The Remarkable Story of a Monkey and a Miracle by Ellen Rogers
After Losing His Legs to a Bomb in Iraq, a Marine Gets By—Emotionally as Well as Physically—with a Little Help from a Simian Friend
We are excited to announce that author, Katharine Weber, has released a new novel. While the novel is fictional, her work was inspired by Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers
COLRAIN — On Aug. 2, 2006, Kent Converse was driving home in a hot car during a three-day heat wave, when he passed out from heat exhaustion and crashed the car.
For these alumni, working with dogs, horses or monkeys to help and heal humans is more than just a job. It's a passion.
Minnie slips a DVD into the player and, snuggles in front of the TV with Craig Cook, the man in her life, as they watch a movie together. A typical couple’s date night? Not quite. Cook is a 41-year-old quadriplegic, and Minnie is a 2.2kg, 38cm-high capuchin monkey.