[2] At the time of its inception, Helix addressed women's issues, family welfare, emotional rehabilitation, and child development at the end of the American Civil War era.
In 1868, the Massachusetts Legislature was asked to allocate $2,000 to the organization, which was granted with the provision that the community in Springfield provide a match of funds through private donations.
The Home at this time was providing temporary care for youngsters facing some type of disruption in their family life.
In 1940, the United Fund and the Community Council asked the Home to consider a different program for emotionally disturbed boys and girls up to age 12.
The board voted in 1961 to accept recommendations for a treatment oriented institution for emotionally disturbed boys and girls ages 6 to 12.
By 1979 a campus in the Sixteen Acres neighborhood of Springfield was acquired to meet the special needs of this program.
It includes academic, administrative and recreational components, and in 2001 added SHARP 1, an adolescent residential program.
In 2017 the Home helped to open a wilderness rehabilitation facility on Penikese Island in Buzzards Bay, off the southern coast of Massachusetts.