Page 38 - BusinessWest February 20, 2023

Helix Human Services
(Formerly the Children’s Study Home)
For More Than 150 Years, This Agency Has Been Giving Kids a Chance
BY GEORGE O’BRIEN
Jobrien@businesswest
ohn Pappas doesn’t know exactly when (he’s now somewhat committed to finding out), but he does know that his maternal grandmother served on the board of the Children’s Study Home and, for a time, as its president.
Likewise, his father followed that same pattern. And his paternal grandmother served on the board as well.
And now, he’s making it three generations in a row. He joined the board in 2016, and he became its chair just last year. This tradition of service speaks to just how much this family believes in the mission of the Children’s Study Home, now known as Helix Human Services, following a needed rebranding that we’ll get into later.
“There’s certainly a lot of connection over the years with my family,” he said in a classic bit of understatement. “Things have changed mightily from then to now, but the underlying mission has not.”
But as long as this continual pattern of service to the agency on the part of Pappas and his predecessors might be, it still covers only a small fraction of its long history.
Indeed, this is the oldest social-service agency in Western Mass., tracing its roots back to 1865, when it was known as the Springfield Home for Friendless Women and Children, and its purpose was to provide care, comfort, and healing to destitute women and children orphaned by the Civil War.
And there were many of them, said John Morse, the now-retired president of the Springfield-based dictionary maker Merriam Webster and long-time member of the agency’s board, who noted that Rachel Capem Merriam, wife of the company’s co- founder, was the agency’s first director.
Over the past 157 years, the agency, which has programs in Western Mass., the Berkshires, and Cape Cod, has moved well beyond its original mission, while remaining true to its purpose — providing relief to families and especially children in need.
Leah Martin Photography
38 FEBRUARY 20, 2023
BusinessWest
“We all believe in the mission, which hasn’t
changed over all these years,” Pappas said. “You
have to give kids a chance — that’s what we’re all
about. Your heart has to go out to kids that were born in less-fortunate circumstances; they have the power to create their own path and their own destiny, and you love to see it when they blossom.”
Need comes in many forms, he went on, and so do the programs created to address it. They include:
• The Mill Pond Schools, with locations in Springfield and the Berkshires. These facilities serve students — kindergarten through age 22 — who have social-emotional and/or behavioral challenges, a learning disability, or who may have a diagnosis of high-functioning autism, and they serve the ‘whole child,’ including the child’s family;
• The SHARP residential program, which is designed to support young people who identify with the LGBTQIA+ community. The program supports youth who have experienced trauma, with moderate to severe mental- health and behavioral-health challenges, and may be struggling with their personal identity;
• The Family Wellness Center. A recent addition to the portfolio, the facility, located in Holyoke, offers a wide array of outpatient mental-
health services, including individual therapy for anyone over age 5, family therapy, couples therapy, community-based therapy, telehealth, and parent
“You have
to give kids a chance — that’s what we’re all about.”