The Self-Help Association in Siglufjörður is the oldest Self-Help association in Iceland. It was founded on June 9, 1958, and has been in continuous operation ever since. Fourteen people met at Gránugata 14 in Siglufjörður on that Monday evening "to discuss the possibility of establishing an association for the paralyzed and disabled in Siglufjörður," as stated in the association's first minutes. The driving force behind the matter was composer Sigursveinn D. Kristinsson. The fourteen people founded the association that evening, as it was noted that there was great interest within the group in establishing an association that would protect such shared common interests. The first president of the society was Valey Jónasdóttir. During the first year of operation, there were card nights, working meetings, a bazaar, and one dance.

,"We immediately felt a great deal of goodwill and warm support for our organization here, and many people joined the association early as sustaining members," states the board's report to the national association after its first year of operation.

The association organized a recreational trip in the summer of 1959, and it was one of the first of many Sjálfsbjörg trips in which more than one association participated, as the group met halfway with a seventy-person group from the Akureyri association. The route went through Skagafjörður and was considered particularly successful.