For more than four decades, Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers—and later Envisioning Access—has worked to improve lives and expand opportunities for people living with physical disabilities.

In recent years, we have been exploring innovative technologies to advance independence and accessibility. Through Envisioning Access, we built valuable partnerships, learned deeply from the disability community, and tested promising tools for the future. That work sharpened our understanding of where we may be able to deliver the most meaningful, sustainable impact.

Currently, we are focused on our promise: providing exceptional lifelong care for the remarkable monkeys who dedicated their lives to helping others. We do this by continuing to support the monkeys still in service, living in special care homes across the country, and our monkeys being cared for at the Alison Payne Monkey Living Center. The Center will remain a place of safety, enrichment, medical care, compassion, and dignity for every monkey entrusted to us.

To sustain this work, our Board and a dedicated group of volunteers now oversee the technology side of the organization, ensuring our digital tools and resources continue to serve our community while our staff devote their full attention to the monkeys in our care.

Our commitment to those we’ve served has never wavered. We carry forward the lessons and relationships born from Envisioning Access, while ensuring every monkey in our care lives out their years with the quality of life they deserve.

This is not a departure from our mission. It is a reaffirmation of our values.