We at Helping Hands strive to help underserved people locally, in Peru, and worldwide. Our goal is to provide opportunities and services for those in need so they can be self-sustaining, transform their lives, be empowered, and hopeful for their future. We are a 501 (c) nonprofit organization.

Why we Serve

Our ministry works to serve many people and areas of life. We have identified our work to predominantly be within these 5 pillars.

  • Mother & Baby

  • Homeless Outreach

  • Fighting Hunger

  • Addiction Recovery

  • Environmental

Serving Our Community

Our sister organization, Amor en Acción, provides shelter, aid, and opportunities for the people of Trujillo, Peru and surrounding areas. We also have the opportunity to send short-term missions to provide support in the day-to-day operations of Amor en Acción and build relationships there.

Peru (Amor en Acción)

We operate four thrift stores in western Washington which provide funds to support people locally, in Peru, and globally.

We partner with other nonprofits like Shower to the People, the Northshore School District, and local fire departments. Our gift card program distributes gift cards to our stores for local people in need.

Local Community

Internationally we provide disaster relief when it is needed. For example, in 2022 we shared support with Ukraine through a partnership with Rotary International. We’ve also supported in other cases like the 2014 Oso landslide, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and the 2017 Peru mudslides.

Serving Globally

Peru: Amor en Acción

While three to five-year-old children are at school, their mothers have the opportunity to learn a new professional skill. Our six Sewing Centers, located in the greater Trujillo area, offer training to mothers and women of the neighborhood, 2 to 3 days a week. They can learn how to sew on sewing machines provided by our US thrift stores. This ministry sometimes happens within a church or within an evangelizing growth cell that restores the hearts of those living in marginalized urban areas.

Sewing Centers

There are approximately 30 students enrolled at Amor en Acción Preschool. The school ministry started in 2013 and is run by faith-centered, licensed, professional teachers with elementary education degrees. Students are served in both morning and evening classes and are provided with meals at the subsidized school.

Preschool and After-School Programs

Amor en Acción took advantage of an existing water well at the Victor Raul School to install a clean water pump with the assistance of several US and Peru Rotary Clubs and Water Missions Peru. It was inaugurated in 2016 and provides much-needed potable water for the community of Victor Raul.

Social and Family Services

Our History

Helping Hands Ministry International began in 1992 with nothing but love and a small building located in Mill Creek, Washington, in the United States.

Vance Field, founder of Helping Hands, along with his wife, Faith, served as missionaries in Peru for seventeen years. As much as they loved working with the Peruvian people, health issues forced them to return to the United States in 1991.

In his secondary line of work as a realtor, Vance spotted an old wood-framed building on the Bothell-Everett Highway that was offered for lease. Recalling the scarcity of basic life necessities in Peru and seeing the abundance of still useful items pouring into landfills in the United States, Vance had a big vision for the humble little structure.

Since it was founded, Helping Hands has provided:

  • Hundreds of bicycles along with maintenance instruction to Peruvian youth, giving them the pride of personal accomplishment.

  • Hundreds of sewing machines along with sewing instruction and supplies to Peruvian women, helping them to support their families.

  • Instruction in computer repair and maintenance to Peruvian youth, making it possible to start school-based computer classes with refurbished machines.

  • Countless families struggling with homelessness clothing support, food supplementation, and more.

  • Support to new mothers with need in the Everett area with diapers, baby formula, and infant clothing.

  • Many 100,000lbs of recycling from entering the landfill.

  • Clothing and household items to the Damascus Houses for Men and Women.

  • Thousands of dollars at the registers for local partner nonprofits.

  • Inspiration and empowerment for people to do more, and be more, with their lives.

With his family and a band of supporters, Helping Hands Ministries International was founded and the first Helping Hands Thrift Store opened its doors. This store, located in Bothell, Washington, serves as a collection point for donated goods. These items are sold to help fund projects in Peru and locally. Helping Hands has since opened stores in Clearview and Lake Steven’s.

Helping Hands has supported thousands of people suffering in poverty around the world.

As well as networking with more than 1,400 Peruvian social service and faith-based agencies, we have assisted in the shipment of goods to the Philippines, Fiji, Togo, Uganda, Ukraine, and locally to victims of Hurricane Katrina and the Oso landslide.