Shishu Sangopan Griha has been working for the benefit of women and children in India since 1979 and has had considerable lasting impact on the lives of many people over this period.

Our skill training centre has trained over 10,000 women since 1986 and while Covid 19 has temporarily put a halt to our project due to the risk of the virus, we expect to be back in 2021 when the situation recovers and is back to normal. Skill training is a crucial way that women coming from the depths of challenging lives can be trained to pick up a skill that has high demand and low investment, keeping in mind their own abilities and education. For women with primary education, the skills for training as a beautician or a garment manufacturer is most suitable in our environment as that remains in high demand and does required moderate educational skills. Our centre is well equipped with machinery, classrooms and highly skilled and experienced trainers, besides all suitable facilities for successful training.

Education is another aspect of life long investment that is important for the future of our country. While we know that children are enrolled in various schools especially Government, there remains a huge lag between services received and their individual needs. Our programme for education has close to 100 children and due to covid 19 we are currently conducting classes online. However, we have well established classrooms, a well equipped kitchen, computers, and all equipment necessary for good teaching. Our teachers work every day ensuring there is good relationships with each child, and suitable investment of time and knowledge towards improving the quality of education for children. Most often children who belong to poor families are the ones in need – their parents are working as maids, drivers, or daily labourers; their parents have little or no education and coupled with low income, these children find it extremely hard to cope with education as they move through the myriad of the school system. Without support, motivation and one to one investment of time, children fail to cope and are at high risk of dropping out of the education system when they reach middle and high school. This is a huge risk for young people who will then continue to remain in poverty, remain a liability within society and eventually find it hard to survive in an economy that is growing but is also becoming more and more expensive for fulfilment of needs.

Our care centre for disabled young people primarily was set up for the life care of such young people who are orphaned and have no homes. Our eldest is over 35 years of age, and we invest into giving them a meaningful and happy life despite all their challenges, whether it is Cerebral palsy, paralysis, Autism, mental disabilities, or a multitude of all these combined. There is no medical cure to these life impacting challenges, but these young people have the desire to live, to participate in life and to be happy and content in a family.

Our foster care for girls provides care for 5 orphan girls under the care of a foster mother who are all orphaned at birth and are being provided support through a loving mother and a home. These young ladies are all within their last few years of high school while one of them is already in University. Investments for their education is just one part of their needs – there is an overall need for investment in their day to day fulfilment of needs – food, shelter, clothing, toiletries, and of course education. We believe a good family is crucial for the development and future of these young ladies.

Our main programme called KARE is a unique programme that works with the Government of Delhi towards supporting a family and child who is in a crisis. As per government figures, an average of 3000 children are brought before the children’s courts for their welfare and support by families who have a breakdown and the government doesnt have sufficient resources for their care. While most of these families believe the institution is the best resort as they have lost a spouse or the children have lost both parents, often such tragedies can be overcome with the right guidance and support. KARE is unique to India and is the only programme that focusses on a integrated approach for a family and a child – often a single mother who has lost her spouse due to desertion or death and in many cases, children being looked after by a kin family due to death or abandonment by the parent/s. Such families are fragile. KARE not only supports a monthly need of the child, but also invests into microenterprise for the caregiver where possible, or employment opportunities. Besides the financial security, the social workers invest their time into mentoring and counselling both the child and the caregiver – the need of a friend and a companion to help them feel secure, to be motivated every day, and to move ahead through their tragedy and ordeal and to regain the opportunity to live once again. KARE has reached close to 300 children over the last few years, but the need if huge as India is expected to have close to 20 million orphans, and there continues to be a growing need for support for children in such risk situations.

We welcome the opportunity for partnerships in a transparent manner to work together as a social community for the young people of our country and our society. We conform to the principals of human development, irrespective of the religious background of a person as we believe that is discriminatory for the care and support of any human being.