Strengthening the Fabric of our Community
For more than 30 years, Bluffton Self Help has been providing basic needs and financial support to our community. And though our roots are in serving the generationally impoverished, our future is in supporting our families who are economically at-risk. With expanding services that include educational programming and leadership, we serve as advocates for those in need throughout our local community and beyond. With direct access to necessary resources, a deep understanding of our community needs, and significant relationships to create change, we provide those in need with a pathway toward self-sufficiency.
Our Mission
To empower and advocate for Lowcountry neighbors to improve their lives through education and training, basic needs, and guided access to a network of community resources.
Our Vision
Communities where everyone has equal access to essential tools and resources to support their journey towards personal success.
Our Core Values
We are data-informed, not data-driven.
Community Needs Assessment
WITH MORE NEIGHBORS economically at risk THAN FINANCIALLY SECURE, Bluffton Self Help is leading a coordinated response to how human services are being offered in our community.
Bluffton Self Help completed an extensive community needs assessment in 2020-2021. Through this research we uncovered staggering data related to the interconnected issues of education, housing, and transportation as barriers to economic mobility in the Lowcountry.
Our neighbors are suffering and Bluffton Self Help is responding. We are leading a coordinated response to how human services are being offered in our community, including an additional $1 million investment this fiscal year.
Click below to see the research and join us in our continued mission to bring our neighbors from surviving to thriving.

Mrs Ida Martin
Our Founder
In 1987, Bluffton resident Ida Martin recognized a great need that was not being met for working families and senior citizens in the area, and so began Bluffton Self Help, which was chartered a year later in October of 1988. At that time, nearby Hilton Head Island had a wonderful organization whose mission was to provide assistance to islanders in need, but nothing was available to help Bluffton residents when they had a financial crisis. Initially working out of her garage, Mrs. Martin obtained resources from family and friends and sometimes went door to door. Clothing was donated and food was obtained by driving to grocery stores and picking up outdated food items.