about us
Behind the brand
Helping Hands Designs, founded by Gina Shapiro in 2017, is a 100% non-profit jewelry brand created to help heal the Santa Barbara community and the world. Each piece is designed and handmade in Santa Barbara by Gina. She has long been involved in charitable work, which has inspired her to create this project. Gina has loved designing and fabricating jewelry for as long as she can remember. She developed her skills at the Interlochen International Jewelry Workshop through an intensive jewelry and metalsmithing course, and uses local materials. (Huge thanks to BEADS in downtown Santa Barbara for their store and generous support!)
how it started
Helping Hands Designs was created in response to the 2017 Thomas Fire and subsequent 2018 Montecito Debris flow disasters. After partnering with Direct Relief to aid disaster victims, Helping Hands Designs partnered with CALM (Child Abuse and Listening Mediation) to help end child abuse in the Santa Barbara area. Helping Hands Designs continued to partner with many more charities, and strives to give back and spread awareness within the Santa Barbara community and beyond.