History

Helping Restore Ability was founded as the Arlington Handicapped Association in Arlington, Texas, in 1977 by a young man with polio, Sam Provence, and his determined friends. They all believed with unswerving passion that a physical disability should not keep a person from participating fully in society and living an independent and active life.

As services expanded beyond the city limits, Arlington Handicapped Association was renamed the Handicapped Resource Association in 1988. In 1999, we began doing business as Helping Restore Ability, a name that reflects our goals and mission, without the implied restrictions of the word handicapped. We were formally recognized as Helping Restore Ability in 2011.

Today, Helping Restore Ability continues to honor the original mission to promote independence and enrich the lives of those we serve. By providing services such as assistance with bathing, dressing, cooking, cleaning, feeding, and light housekeeping as well as nursing care and therapies, the primary goal of Helping Restore Ability is to assist the person served in remaining in their own homes (and out of institutions such as hospitals and nursing homes) for as long as possible. Care includes assistance with basic daily living skills, such as:
 

Bathing	Hair and skin care	Toileting
Dressing	Exercise (walking only)	Ambulation/transfers
Grooming	Feeding	Light house cleaning
Laundry	Cooking	Grocery Shopping

• Helping Restore Ability is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that serves more than 650 unduplicated clients annually through our programs.

• The Client Managed Personal Attendant Services (CMPAS) program, started in 1980, provides in-home support to people in a 10 county area comprising the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, including Tarrant, Dallas, Collin, Denton, Ellis, Hood, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, and Rockwall counties.

• In 2001, Helping Restore Ability added the Consumer Directed Services (CDS) program, which provides attendant care to more than 500 people of all ages throughout the entire state of Texas.

• In 2003, Helping Restore Ability became licensed as a home health care agency and currently offers services to clients with short term disabilities through contracts with third-party insurance providers as well as Medicaid.

• In 2004, Helping Restore Ability became a primary home care (PHC) provider for the Metroplex, and from 2004-2006 Helping Restore Ability served as a direct service agency for the Community Living Assistance and Support Services (CLASS) program.

• In 2008, Helping Restore Ability began providing personal attendant care to people referred through the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services (DARS), and also began working with clients referred through private Long Term Care (LTC) Insurance companies.

• Other services offered include providing in-home aid to the elderly through contracts with local Area Agency on Aging (AAA) organizations, as well as the provision of a variety of supports such as day habilitation, nursing, and community integration services to people with developmental disabilities through contracts with Tarrant County MHMR and Dallas Metrocare.

Sammy Provence
Founder of Helping Restore Ability

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