Our Mission

To offer individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families personalized supports that:

• Promote a high quality of life.
• Result in meaningful outcomes.
• Foster full participation in their community.

Our Vision

To be a preferred provider of services and supports to persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and their families, in New York City. To be a preferred employer for persons seeking a career in the field of Human Services.

Our Values

To operate at the highest level of respect and integrity for the people we serve, their families, the community, our employees, and all supporting partners.

Our Impact

Heaven’s Hands Community Services currently serves more than 925 individuals and families throughout New York City. We have grown from a staff of three employees in 2000 to several hundred employees today. We work to help individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities enjoy new opportunities and reach milestones that matter to them.

• Our Direct Support Professionals work one-on-one with individuals in their homes throughout New York City.
• We help individuals learn in a group setting at our program locations in Brooklyn and Queens.
• We connect employers with individuals we serve, creating job opportunities and growing independence.
• We offer respite care for caretakers at home, as well as after school, and during school holidays at our program sites in Brooklyn and Queens.
• Our Service Coordinators help people apply for services with the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), and find other services they may need.

Our Story

Heaven’s Hands Community Services launched in 2000 to fulfill a growing need for an organization that would reach underserved individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities, their families and caregivers.

We started by listening. For 18 months, we went door-to-door, family-to-family, in the evening and on weekends, so we could fully understand the challenges these families faced. 

Mothers told us about strained relationships and lack of a support system after a child was diagnosed with an intellectual or developmental disability. Others simply needed a break from the daily grind of providing 24-hour-care; someone they could trust with their loved one while they went grocery shopping, cleaned the house, focused on their other children; or spent quality time with their significant other.

Many families had no idea what services were available to help them, or they were overwhelmed by the complexity of accessing services. 
The system itself had become a burden.

Their stories of helplessness and frustration fueled our commitment to developing services and supports for families caring for loved ones with disabilities in their homes.

We Took Action

Once we had our mission in place, Heaven’s Hands advocated for State funding to develop services and provide the support that individuals and their families so desperately needed. 

Guiding people through the maze of eligibility and enrollment requirements. We are their advocates for as long as it takes to get the services and supports they need.  

We also worked with the State to set up programs that ensured community access for non-ambulatory individuals with higher medical needs.

We Find a Way to Say “Yes”

After more than 16 years of service, we still listen and we still look for ways to better serve our communities. Our collaborative and creative staff work together and share their ideas so individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities can reach their goals and live out their dreams. 
Whatever it takes, Heaven’s Hands finds a way to say, “Yes!”