TWO shocking incidents were witnessed that changed everything for a group of young people in Chhattisgarh: a homeless woman was lured with food to an isolated place where she was sexually attacked and an old man developed an illness after eating rotten food out of a public garbage dump. Having seen this, a group of people realized that homeless senior citizens in India suffer in the most dreadful ways but there is a solution. This group of youngsters founded Feel Parmartham Foundation, a Chattisgarh-based NGO that rescues destitute elders from the streets and provides safe shelter, nutritious food, medical care and personal support. Since its founding, Feel Parmartham Foundation has rescued and transformed the lives of countless elders and needs your support to continue supporting more homeless elders.
The organization’s name, Feel Parmartham Foundation, means something to its founders. While the word parmartham means doing good for others, feel indicates that it is crucial to feel compassion for others. It is the combination of understanding what others are going through and the need to serve others that drives Feel Parmartham Foundation in its work for abandoned elders in India.
The state of abandoned elders in Chhattisgarh
There are a minimum of 1.7 million homeless people in India, according to the Government of India 2011 census, with a more or less even split between rural and urban homeless people. The physical and mental condition of homeless people is appalling because the lack of regular food leads to malnutrition, deficiencies, infections, illnesses, diseases, organ failure, starvation and death. The onset of these conditions leads to further despair since homeless people have no access to doctors or hospitals and cannot afford treatment or medicines. This worsens their conditions, causes intense suffering and shortens their life spans.
Homeless people are denied opportunities to find employment, earn an income and improve themselves. Their lives are confined to the streets and people’s lack of concern leaves them in a cycle of poverty and desperation that never ends. The impact this has on their minds is crippling. This mental deterioration is just as devastating as their worsening physical condition. The lack of care, companionship and support coupled with the pain and heartbreak of being abandoned by their families is often too much for people to bear that it leads to depression, mental illnesses and suicidal tendencies.
Then there is the issue of danger on the streets. Homeless senior citizens are easy prey for criminals who attack and abuse them to steal from them, force them into exploitative labor or to commit crimes more sinister, like murder. For homeless women, the danger they face is even more horrific. Criminals and traffickers harass, molest and rape homeless women and even force them into prostitution. This abuse and exploitation leaves mental scars on homeless women and even physical ones such as unwanted pregnancies resulting from rape and damage to their bodies from physical and sexual assault.
Feel Parmartham Foundation’s rescue and rehabilitation
Founded around 2018 to 2019, Feel Parmartham Foundation started with visits to homeless people in public places like on the streets and under bridges to determine how the team could be of assistance. Recognizing that food was the primary concern, the NGO started distributing food packets and ended up preparing and providing more than 7,500 food packets to the homeless in Bhilai, Chhattisgarh. This continued with people getting the food they needed and seeing an improvement in their overall health but then – everything changed in 2020.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic sent the world into a tailspin and none were more affected in India than the poor and destitute. With nowhere to turn for shelter or medication, homeless people collapsed under the sudden and unprecedented pandemic and lockdown. Feel Parmartham Foundation continued their food distribution initiatives and in addition to homeless people, also distributed food packets to stranded migrant workers. It was during this time that the NGO began rescuing homeless people and placing them in long term care.
Right when the devastating second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hit India, which was one of the worst hit countries in the world, Feel Parmartham Foundation established its rehabilitation center for the homeless, mentally challenged and sexually abused people in Bhilai. Within its rehabilitation home, Feel Parmartham Foundation focuses on 6 crucial areas. The team identifies and rescues people on the streets in need of help. Once at the center, the rescued elders have shelter, food and basic care. The center is equipped with basic medical aid and equipment and if further care is needed, the elders are taken to the hospital. Feel Parmartham Foundation prioritizes the mental condition of the once homeless and arranges for sessions with trained therapists to provide psychological counseling. As it happens, many old people get lost, separated from their families and end up on the streets. The team reunites them with their families where possible, making sure that they are brought to safety and do not suffer on the streets.
When you support Feel Parmartham Foundation, you help the NGO rescue more abandoned and homeless elders, procure and provide more medicines, equip their ambulances, improve the center’s infrastructure, connect residents to mental health professionals and conduct the funerals and last rites of rescued elders who have passed away and have no children or family members.
Support Feel Parmartham Foundation
Feel Parmartham Foundation needs your help to rescue and care for more destitute elders in Chhattisgarh and across India. To support the organization as they help elders who are suffering from malnutrition, illnesses, diseases, mental disabilities and other debilitating conditions, you can lend your support and donate here:
Support Feel Parmartham Foundation
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Shirley has been in the development sector for over 10 years and is passionate about making a change in the world around her, including adopting dogs and writing to make a difference.
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