The
breakthrough
effect
How helpers community fosters life-changing results for years to come
under
The
surface
When demand for infrastructure support surged beyond anything in Helpers Community’s history, the board doubled its grant commitment and funded every qualifying organization. Under the Surface follows a year of urgent response: from a ranch rebuilt after wildfire to a camp made accessible to every camper, and the community that made it possible.
helper’s 2025 grants →
Grant
Recipients
pony
express
camp
via
west
helpers
artisan
boutique
helper’s 2024 breakthroughts →
At Helpers, we don’t just fund programs—we strategically invest in a better future. We enable bold ideas early, help shape promising solutions as they become real, and stay connected as they grow and thrive. Read below to hear about some of our greatest breakthroughs.
common
roots
farm
Creativity
explored
Kainos
helpers
artistan
boutique
Grant Recipients
when the
need surged
In 2025, organizations serving people with developmental disabilities faced pressure from every direction. Funding landscapes shifted. Costs rose. Infrastructure that had been aging quietly suddenly couldn’t wait.
More than forty organizations applied for Helpers grants this year, requesting a combined total of over $1.4 million. Our grant budget was $200,000.
Applicants had everything they needed to do their work — except the one piece of essential infrastructure that held everything together.
But “essential” looked different for each one. For some, it was the essential safety of a home— climate control failing in a group home in San Rafael, a pool requiring safety upgrades in San Francisco, kitchens deteriorating in residences where people have built their lives in Napa. For others, it was the essential access that makes programs possible — ADA pathways for an organization in Malibu rebuilding after wildfire, barn repairs at a camp for children with disabilities near Yosemite, equipment for a ranch in Santa Rosa that serves hundreds of people every week through therapeutic horsemanship. And for others still, it was the essential voice of creative expression — art documentation tools at a San Francisco studio where artists with developmental disabilities produce world-class work, a hydroponic growing system in Sonoma that gives program participants hands-on vocational skills they can carry into employment.
Essential safety. Essential access. Essential voice. All different — all urgent — all part of the same community.
“When you create beautiful, purposeful spaces for people with developmental disabilities, you send a powerful message of inclusion and opportunity.”
Bryan Neider, CEO, AbilityPath
We had a choice. We could do the best we could with the budget we had, or we could change the budget. Because of you, we changed the budget.
This response was only possible because of your sustained support. Year after year, you gave Helpers the capacity to meet this moment — not next quarter, not after a planning cycle, but now. The board doubled our grant commitment to $400,000. We funded every qualifying applicant within the Greater SF Bay Area. Twenty-one organizations — nine of them receiving Helpers support for the first time. $384,300 disbursed— a significant increase and among the largest commitments in our history.
“It has been my lifelong dream to create a true place of belonging for my daughter. Not just a place where she can live, but a place where she can truly thrive.”
Jeff Peck, Founder, Big Wave Project
The pressures that drove this unprecedented demand aren’t going away. Facilities age. Costs rise. The community’s needs keep growing.
Pony Express
five years
of silence
“When you come out and you’re working with a horse, they don’t see your label. They meet you where you are.”
Linda Aldridge, Executive Director
In 2019, Pony Express’s impact was undeniable.
Through its programs at Santa Rosa’s Howarth Park, thousands of people — including many with developmental disabilities — were stepping into a corral and learning a different way to communicate. No words required. Just breath, presence, and the willingness to listen with your whole body.
Andrew came out of curiosity. When he started, he was largely nonverbal. But in the corral, he didn’t need to talk. “Whenever I’m around them, I have to be truly aware of every hint and detail,” he says. “You start to really see for the first time who and what you are as a whole.”
Then, in September 2020, the Glass Fire destroyed Pony Express Ranch. Only one barn survived — smoke-damaged, unusable. The corrals at Howarth Park — the ones Andrew had walked into out of curiosity — went quiet for five years. Without that barn, the program was stuck at ten to twenty people a week.
“After the Glass Fire decimated our ranch, we had nothing. Our ability to move forward was questionable.”
Linda
Your support rebuilt the barn. With it functional, Linda expanded her herd and returned to Howarth Park, bringing programs back to the scale the community had lost.
And Andrew? The awareness he built with horses followed him into the world. He got a job at Oliver’s Market. He’s worked there ever since. As Linda says: “You can’t take the horse with you. But you can take the way the horse makes you feel with you.”
Camp Via West
where you can
“The world is incredibly isolating when you have a disability. You’re usually the only person you know that has that disability.”
Alyssa Pecorino, Camp Director
Alyssa was born Deaf. At ten years old, she went to summer camp and heard “you can” for the first time. It changed the course of her life.
Today she runs Camp Via West — the only camp in Silicon Valley serving people with disabilities — giving over five hundred campers every summer the same thing she found at ten.
At the heart of camp is the art barn — a space where campers build confidence, communicate through what they create, and discover a different way of thinking. For campers who are non speaking, creative expression becomes its own language. They take what they make home with them. These small mementos become powerful reminders of memories, of friends, and most importantly, of the community they are a part of — how they are not alone.
But for years, some campers couldn’t be part of it. No ADA accessible bathrooms. No sensory accommodations.
Alyssa knew exactly what that space could do for a kid — she’d lived it. But infrastructure kept some of her campers out.
Helpers worked to fix these gaps. Over five years, breakthrough grants funded ADA bathrooms, sound panels, a safety path to the sports field, and the new artificial all-purpose turf on the athletic fields. The building became a place for every camper, allowing each one to learn, explore, and take home some of the magic they felt on those warm summer days. Families notice the difference — someone who went to camp saying one or two words, coming home and speaking sentences.
“Now everyone’s willing to go because we have accommodations there for everyone.”
Alyssa
Some of those campers will do what Alyssa did: carry what they found at camp into the rest of their lives, and build something like this for others.
Helpers Artisan Boutique
open
anyway
In January 2025, a main sewage pipe above Helpers Artisan Boutique cracked, pouring water through the ceiling and into the shop, threatening to destroy the paintings, ceramics, and wearable art that lined the walls and shelves.
Retail Marketing Director Marilyn Harrison got there fast. The art was saved. The store was not. Repairs would take almost two months, temporarily closing this essential link between its artists and the public.
For years, Helpers Community has been building, on behalf of its artists, a reputation and a network of relationships that could open doors. Now, facing a crisis of its own, the Boutique found itself drawing on the same infrastructure.
“I just started emailing people, hey, do you know of any pop-ups happening? And Robert Emmons, founder of San Francisco Mercantile, responded with, come on down, I’ll give you space.”
Marilyn Harrison, Retail Marketing Director
For most artists with developmental disabilities, the barrier to a career isn’t talent. It’s that no one is carrying their work into rooms where buyers, collectors, and the public can find it. A handful of programs have built that capacity over decades, but for the vast majority of artists and programs, there is no path from the studio to an audience. The work stays inside the community that made it.
As the only commercial space in the region open to artists from any program, Helpers Artisan Boutique showed work at some of the biggest events across the Bay Area.
Twenty Four Pop ups. The Ferry Building, every Friday and Saturday through November and December. The Startup Art Fair. Moscone Center corporate events. Textile Arts Council. San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts. Shop Dine SF. The Saratoga Rotary Annual Art Show. Redwood City Art Walk. Filoli Art Walk. Nearly every weekend in the second half of the year, the Boutique was in front of a new public audience.
In 2025, Helpers also became a founding member of Creative Spotlight™ — a partnership with Helpers, AbilityPath, Futures Explored, and thought partner Cedars — to bring greater visibility to artists with developmental disabilities across the Bay Area. It’s a recognition of something Marilyn has been building for years: the relationships and expertise to carry this work into rooms where it belongs.
At Filoli Art Walk, the Boutique sold work surrounded by art from neurotypical artists. The art wasn’t there as an exception. It was there because the work was equally exceptional. The Boutique doesn’t ask the world to make room. It creates the space that allows the art to speak for itself to an audience that matters.
“Thank you for buying my American Zodiac paintings. All of them. It makes me really happy and it makes me feel that a lot of people enjoy my art and love my art and inspire to do more.”
Benjie C., Cedars Fine Art Studios
Despite a flood that closed the store for almost two months, 2025 was the Boutique’s largest year for revenue, for reach, and for bringing art into spaces where it belongs. In 2026, expanding that bridge means more pop-ups, more partnerships, and more artists reaching buyers who would never find them otherwise.
moments of imapct
Organizations Impacted by Helpers Grant Program in 2025
A Broader Living Experience*
Ability Now Bay Area*
AbilityPath
Big Wave Group
Camping Unlimited (Camp Krem)*
Cedars of Marin
Community Integrated Support Services (CISS)
Creativity Explored
Futures Explored*
Hope Services
Housing Choices Coalition*
Life Services Alternatives
Moving Forward Towards Independence*
On-the-Move Community Integration*
Pomeroy Recreation and Rehabilitation Center
Pony Express Equine Assisted Skills for Youth
Shalom Institute Camp & Conference Center*
Square Peg Foundation*
Sweetwater Spectrum
The Arc San Francisco
United Cerebral Palsy of the North Bay
2025 Key Accomplishments
Record number of pop-ups and special events, including the Ferry Building, Filoli Art Walk, Moscone Center, and the Saratoga Art Show
Founding member of Creative Spotlight, a partnership with AbilityPath, Futures Explored, and Richmond Art Center NIAD
Certificate of Honor from
Office of Cultural Affairs /
SF Arts Commission
GuideStar/Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency — 5th consecutive year
Special accommodation from District 2 Supervisor’s Office /
SF Board of Supervisors
Recipient of the Beacon Award from Life Service Alternatives
Disbursed $384,300 in Breakthrough Impact Award grants to 21 nonprofit organizations — one of the largest commitment in Helpers’ history, with 9 first-time grant recipients
Awarded $7,000 grant from San Mateo County Arts & Culture Commission
Recipient of $50,000 Campodonico Trust donation
Total impact of Helpers Grant program:
$384,000!
2024 breakthroughs
Common Roots Farm
Breaking Down Barriers to Inclusion
When Helpers first partnered with Common Roots Farm in 2020, the challenge was clear: the land itself was a barrier. Winter rains transformed the soil into mud, making it nearly impossible for people using wheelchairs or mobility devices to participate in farm life.
“We almost called it Boot-Sucking Farm,” Farm Manager Nina recalled. “You can imagine what it was like out here in the wet season—just trying to get from one work area to another. It was really important to us to have our folks easily get around everywhere.”
At Common Roots, the vision has always been an inclusive farm where people of all abilities can work, connect, and thrive. But to get there, the team needed more than vision—they needed infrastructure. Traditional funders often overlook that. Helpers didn’t.
Today, the farm is not only accessible—it’s thriving. The pathways have withstood multiple severe winters in 2022 and 2023, proving not just functional but resilient. A new barn, slated for completion this year, marks another milestone—providing space for learning, gathering, and shelter. And through it all, the kitchen and pathways have become vital hubs, not just for movement, but for connection.
For some, the transformation has been especially personal. Janie Whiteford, the Board Chair of Common Roots Farm and a wheelchair user, had long been unable to fully engage in the farm’s daily life. “The Trugrid pathway has been both exciting and comforting. Knowing we can get anywhere on the Farm, participate in all the Farm activities and effectively volunteer in many different tasks is truly amazing.”
Executive Director Heidi put it simply:
“Helpers took a chance when others wouldn’t. They saw that if we couldn’t get people to the work, we couldn’t do the work. Now, we have a farm that reflects our values—not just in words, but in every step along the path.”
Creativity Explored
A spark of
innovation
For ceramic artist Ricardo, working with clay was a way to express what words could not.
But for years, Creativity Explored’s kiln was unreliable. “When I saw the kiln literally disintegrating, I was shocked,” Ceramics instructor Harley recalled. “It struggled to reach the right temperature, so we would have to wait to run big batches. Because of that, pieces would take months to fire, and even then, you never knew if they’d come out right.” Harley adds, “We have world-class artists — why shouldn’t they have world-class equipment?”
Funding for large equipment is notoriously difficult to secure, but we stepped in.
Linda, Executive director
“Helpers is different. They don’t just fund projects—they show up, listen, and truly understand the challenges we face.”
Kainos
A Renewed Foundation for Independence
At Kainos’ La Vista, home is more than just a place to live—it’s a foundation for independence, dignity, and belonging. However, that foundation was beginning to crumble—literally.
With a 40-year-old roof at the end of its lifespan and a retaining wall that had deteriorated beyond repair, La Vista faced a critical turning point. This threatened the safety of the home as well as the stability and well-being of the residents who have built their lives there.
Yet securing funding for a failing roof and a crumbling wall is challenging. “Most funders readily support programs with visible outcomes. But infrastructure? That’s harder. It takes a funder like Helpers to recognize that without a strong foundation — programs can’t thrive.
That’s what made Helpers different. They didn’t just see a house in need of repairs, they saw a home that needed protecting.” Executive Director Andy shared.
Andy, Executive Director
“Every single day, our residents benefit from these enhancements. The new roof provided the security they need, and the retaining wall transformed our backyard into a gathering space. Without Helpers, we might have lost that space forever.”
Helpers Artisan Boutique
Expanding Opportunity, Expanding
Reach
For more than 40 artists with developmental disabilities, Helpers Artisan Boutique is both a marketplace for amazing art and a bridge—a bridge between talent and opportunity, art and recognition, creativity and community.
In 2024, the boutique expanded its reach like never before, increasing the number of pop-up events at art fairs and conferences across the Bay Area.
And the momentum isn’t slowing down. In 2025, the boutique will expand pop-ups by another 20%—reaching over 1,000 new customers at events and through its Union Street store.
“And when people come to a pop-up or the boutique, they’re not just buying because of the mission,” added the mother of another artist. “They’re buying because the work is truly beautiful.”
“I’ve never known another place like Helpers. They give artists like me a real chance—to be seen, to sell, to be valued as an artist, not just someone with a disability.”
sarah, artist
moments of impact
Organizations Impacted by Helpers Grant Program in 2024
AbilityPath (Camp Via West)
Big Wave Group Inc*
Cedars of Marin
Creative Growth Art Center*
L’Arche Portland
Life Steps Foundation (Central Coast)*
One Step Beyond Inc
The Pony Express Equine Program*
Sweetwater Spectrum*
2024 Key
Accomplishments
Secured two significant grants (a Bothin Foundation grant and Legacy gift from Family Trust) to support Helpers infrastructure needs
Helpers became a Founding Member of a newly created Art Alliance Collaboration to help bring awareness & inclusivity for Artists with I/DD
Increased total amount of donations number of donors, and average amount donated by individual donors
Continued to invest in our Group Homes to ensure residents with I/DD can live and thrive in a supportive, loving environment
Identified and recognized 5 new organizations with first-time infrastructure support grants
Tripled our awareness, increased visibility and impact via social media platforms
Total impact of Helpers Fall Grant program:
$137,000
Want to learn more?
Read the full report
