Health Education Adoption Rehabilitation Development Society

The Health Education Adoption Rehabilitation Development Society (HEARDS) has transitioned from addressing child labour to becoming a holistic organisation championing children's rights. Focusing on marginalized groups like child labourers, orphans, and individuals with special needs, it employs a comprehensive strategy, covering prevention, remediation, rehabilitation, policy advocacy, and evidence-based documentation. HEARDS rescues child labourers, supports repatriation, and operates rehabilitation centres, ensuring successful integration into mainstream schools with vigilant staff overseeing consistent attendance.

HEARDS, since its inception, has conducted awareness programmes on water sanitation, health, and hygiene across various blocks in Chittoor District. The society has successfully implemented schemes focusing on sustainable drinking water development, including innovative rainwater harvesting techniques and roof water harvesting. It promotes alternative water schemes and advocates safe drinking water technologies like water filter plants. Ensuring proper toilet facilities in every assisted house is mandatory, aiming to sensitize communities, enhance menstrual hygiene awareness, and bring about behavioural changes for better health practices. The organisation emphasizes improving rural life quality through cleanliness, hygiene, and sanitation coverage.

HEARDS has actively initiated and supported the establishment of Women Self Help Groups (SHGs) in Chittoor District, as part of a comprehensive women empowerment and development programme. Each SHG, comprising 10-12 members, operates savings accounts in local banks, engaging in internal thrift and credit activities. The programme includes diverse training sessions, covering SHG concepts, leadership, Entrepreneurial Development, and various income generation strategies such as goods production, marketing, vocational training, and value-added services for sustainable women's empowerment.

HEARDS has consistently faced urgent demands for shelter, intensifying during each monsoon season with flooding, evictions, and overcrowded conditions. The society has actively invested in the housing sector, with notable achievements being the Slum Development Housing Programme in Chittoor, involving 50 houses, and various social housing schemes implemented at different intervals. HEARDS adopts a research-oriented approach, recently focusing on the concept of "housing in the barrier-free environment," aiming to provide novel housing solutions for the marginalized community's upliftment.

Established in 2005, HEARDS Institute, the vocational skilling arm of HEARDS, trains economically disadvantaged youth, widows, and marginalized women, aged 18-35, equipping them with employable skills. Programmes cover 10 major vocations, reaching around 300 young people in 2020-2021. Courses, lasting 6 months to 1 year, focus on rural and urban youth, emphasizing hands-on skills with industry linkages. The four-step approach includes mobilization, training, placement, and post-placement support, with a unique emphasis on post-placement tracking and support for financial sustainability. The model's success lies in its focus on post-placement services, increasing student retention in their first jobs.