Helping Hand Home for Children


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For 114 years, Helping Hand Home for Children has provided a place to heal for abused, neglected and abandoned children. The Home provides residential treatment services and therapeutic foster care for emotionally disturbed children and advocates for greater public support of early prevention, intervention, and treatment. Helping Hand Home is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization located in Austin, Texas licensed by the State of Texas and governed by the membership of the Helping Hand Society.

The Home is the oldest continuously operating residential childcare agency in Travis County, a priceless resource kept strong and viable through community support.

Our mission is to maintain a therapeutic home for children and to restore each child to a healthy family setting.

Our goal is for the children to take responsibility for their own actions, leave with a sense of worth, improve their academic skills and gain an increased sense of trust.

Residential Treatment Program
The Home's residential treatment component has been designed specifically for forty-one children between the ages of five and twelve who have experienced severe physical, sexual, and emotional trauma. One of only a few treatment centers in the United States dedicated to serving young children; our therapeutic milieu has been crafted to provide a safe and nurturing environment for children who have experienced the darker side of childhood.
Click here to learn more.

Pearson Therapeutic Foster Care Program
The Pearson Therapeutic Foster Care Program was founded in 1995 on the belief that a loving home can save a child. Our foster care program serves children from birth to eighteen years old who need treatment services but can function successfully in a foster home with specially trained and supported foster parents. Click here to learn more.

Executive Director
Bruce Thompson

Clinical Director
Ann Brestrup

Director or Residential Services
Chris Janawicz

Foster Care Program Director
Kristi Duck

Development Director
Mary Campana

Board of Directors
Shay Blankenship, President
Kathy Petet, President Elect
Adrienne Thannisch, Past President
Patti Stone, Treasurer
Pam Ferguson, Secretary
Ann Bauer
Melinda Covert
Linda Gladden
Kate Goode
Anne Jarvis
Jeanne Little
Debbie Mincher
Christie Nalle
Laura Spears
Mariette Wroe

Community Advisory Board
Gaylord Armstrong
Ben Bentzin
Marla Bommarito-Crouch
Melissa R. Bunner, Ph.D.
Duncan T. Butler, Jr.
Thomas B. Dawson, M.D.
Ron Franklin
Gay Gaddis
Dee Garcia
Colleen Gardner
Gino Giannotti
Galt Graydon
Hon. Brenda Kennedy
Brian Jones
Layne Levine
Rep. Elliott Naishtat
Brenda Nelson
Jen Ohlson
Rhonda Paver
Joe Petet
Betty Ray
Pat H. Robertson
Charlotte Sharp
Marilyn V. Sheneman
R. Clint Smith
Wallace M. Smith
Berry D. Spears
Jim Spencer
William B. Stringer
Jeff Trigger
Michele A. Turnquist
Susan Vincent
Michael J. Vollman
Sam A. Wilson