Awesome Boston Based Non-Profit: Helping Hands Monkey Helpers

 We recently learned of the Helping Hands Monkey Helpers non-profit based in Boston and are impressed with their awesome work. According to their website, Helping Hands “helps adults with spinal cord injuries and other mobility impairments live more independent and engaged lives…by providing them, free of charge…with a highly trained capuchin monkey to help with their daily tasks.” Since 1979, Helping hands has been carefully matching monkey helpers with disabled recipients giving them “the priceless gifts of greater independence, companionship, and hope.” 

Check out the video below to meet Mary Kay Young and her monkey helper Amy.

Click here for the Helping Hands website: http://www.monkeyhelpers.org/

Beyond the Tasks from Helping Hands Monkey Helpers on Vimeo. 

There Is Life After Injury, Trauma Survivor Muji Karim Helps Fellow Survivors Cope

Karim meets with Celeste Corcoran, a victim who lost both legs in the Boston Marathon bombings (Photo Credit: Boston Globe)Muji Karim, a 29-year-old former all-star athlete, was seriously injured in a fiery car accident in August 2011. Both of his legs were amputated and most of his left hand was destroyed. Moreover, the injuries to his right arm left him without the full use of any limb. Karim felt extremely depressed and became very quiet until one day George Pessotti entered his intensive-care room at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Pessotti, now a volunteer, suffered severe burns over most of his body from a kitchen fire in 1979. Encouraged by Pessotti, Karim set out on his recovery. His tenacity became well-known—he ate more protein than doctors ordered to help his body rebuild and doubled prescribed exercises to increase his strength. As a result, he has made great progress. After the Boston Marathon bombing, Muji has served as a mentor to help console victims and he plans to take a peer-counseling course with the Phoenix Society to make his role with the support group official. In giving, he is building his own strength. “It’s making me feel better and more at peace,” Karim said.

Click below to read Chelsea Conaboy’s article in the Boston Globe:

Boston Globe: "Trauma survivor now action as a beacon of inspiration”