Helping Hands was founded as a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization and became Helping Hands, Incorporated on April 19, 1973. The prompt for such a facility arose after a group of Aiken citizens realized abused, abandoned, and/or neglected children were being temporarily housed in the Aiken County jail due to a lack of foster home space. The agency began with contributions from the Gregg-Graniteville Foundation and the Aiken County government and became a United Way agency in 1979.

In 2012, Helping Hands acquired another nonprofit, Aiken Youth Empowerment (AYE), in order to extend our services to the Aiken community. AYE began as the Aiken County Teen Pregnancy Prevention Center in 1994 and is dedicated to providing programming to help youth reduce risk-taking behaviors and decrease teen and unintended pregnancies in our community. This is done through the provision of research-based programs with a record of success including Girls Circle, the Council of Boys and Young Men, and Stewards of Children. Other offerings include a year-round job readiness program, and parent empowerment courses.

The mental health needs of the residents are a major concern and a component of the holistic care that we provide. Helping Hands residents are survivors of abusive and highly traumatic circumstances and often require the assistance of mental health services to positively cope with the abuse, abandonment and/or neglect they have endured. Residents are given the opportunity to attend individual and group counseling sessions as a forum to discuss mental health issues. Our staff works closely with local mental health providers in order to aid our children in any way possible.

The agency has a licensed therapist that serve residents and their families to help reduce the effects of abuse and neglect by providing counseling, education, and advocacy. The therapist will see current and former residents of the agency and seek every opportunity to provide TF-CBT, where applicable, and other evidence-based techniques when possible. Immediate and targeted intervention can accelerate recovery for children and families. Therapeutic education can be used to teach coping, conflict negotiation, and de-escalation skills that can be so important in the reunification of families or the transition to a single family foster home. .

Mental Health Expo 2026

May is Mental Health Awareness Month