diff --git a/charts/helm.md b/charts/helm.md
index 5592cc7..542b0a1 100644
--- a/charts/helm.md
+++ b/charts/helm.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Helm Reference Guide
+# Helm Reference
 
 For information on how to install `helm` please refer to [Installing helm](../prereqs/helm.md)
 
@@ -8,9 +8,57 @@
 
 ## CORD Helm Charts
 
+All helm charts used to install CORD can be found in the `helm-chart`
+repository. Most of the top-level directories in that repository
+(e.g., `onos`, `voltha`, `xos-core`) correspond to components of
+CORD that can be installed independently. For example, it is possible
+to bring up `onos` without `voltha`, and vice versa. You can also
+bring up XOS by itself (`xos-core`) or XOS with its GUI (`xos-core`
+and `xos-gui`). This can be useful if you want to work on just the
+CORD data models, without any backend components.
+
+The `xos-services` and `xos-profile` directories contain helm
+charts for individual services and profiles (a mesh of services),
+respectively. While it is possible to use Helm to bring up an
+individual service, typically collections of related services are
+installed as a unit; we call this unit a *profile.* Looking in the
+`xos-profiles` directory, `rcord-lite` is an example profile. It
+corresponds to R-CORD, and inspecting its `requirements.yaml`
+file shows that it, in turn, depends on the `volt` and `vrouter`
+services, among several others.
+
+Some of the profiles bring up sub-systems that other profiles then
+build upon. For example, `base-openstack` brings up three platform
+related services (`onos-service`, `openstack`, and `vtn-service`),
+which effectively provisions CORD to support OpenStack-based VNFs.
+Once the services in the `base-openstack` profile are running, it
+is then possible to bring up the `mcord` profile, which corresponds
+to ~10 other services. It is also possible to bring up an individual
+service by executing its helm chart; for example
+`xos-services/exampleservice`.
+
+Similarly, the `base-kubernetes` profile brings up Kubernetes in
+support of container-based VNFs. This corresponds to the
+`kubernetes-service`, not to be confused with CORD's use of
+Kubernetes to deploy the CORD control plane. Once this profile is
+running, it is possible to bring up an example VNF in a container
+by executing its helm chart; for example
+`xos-services/simpleexampleservice`.
+
+> **Note:** The `base-kubernetes` configuration does not yet
+> incorporate VTN. Doing so is work-in-progress.
+
+Finally, note that the `templates` sub-directory in both the
+`xos-services` and `xos-profiles` directories includes one or
+more TOSCA-related files. These play a role in configuring the
+service graph and provisioning the individual services contained
+in that service graph. This happens once the helm charts have
+done their job, and is technically a post-install operation, as
+discussed in the [Operations Guide](../operating_cord/operating_cord.md).
+
 ### Download the helm-charts Repository
 
-You can get the CORD helm-chars by cloning the `helm-charts` repository:
+You can get the CORD helm charts by cloning the `helm-charts` repository:
 
 ```shell
 git clone https://gerrit.opencord.org/helm-charts