Help 67-year-old Vanitha provide 80 abandoned orphans with shelter and care

Most of Sharanalayam’s children have ‘V’ as their initial. The ‘V’ stands for ‘Vanitha,’ the founder of the NGO. For the orphaned and the abandoned kids, Vanitha is simply ‘Thaiamma’ (mother). One of them is V Dhanushya, 18, who is studying nursing. “Thaiamma has taken care of me since I was six months old. I don’t know who I was born to, but if somebody asks me my mother’s name, I will say Vanitha,” Dhanushya says.

But Vanitha, at 67, is seeking your support to keep Sharanalayam running and help many more Dhanushyas. Donate now.

“A sex worker’s child should not become a sex worker, and a beggar’s child should not end up becoming a beggar. Every child, in my eyes, is equal, and no child deserves to live on the streets. That is my basic philosophy,” says N Vanitha Rengaraj, chairperson of Sharanalayam.

For rescued abandoned infants from bus stands, railway stations, roadsides and temple steps and orphans adopting whose parents have died, Sharanalayam has been a loving home for close to two decades. Vanitha has also been taking care of abandoned HIV-infected and mentally challenged kids. Today, over 80 abandoned kids are given shelter, food, medical care, education and other amenities at Sharanalayam.

Vanitha has tried her best to run Sharanalayam from her own resources and that of her well-wishers, but the last two years have been harsh. “I have never extended my hands asking people to donate, but I have to do it now for the sake of the children under my care,” says Vanitha. Donate now.

Over 80 children at Sharanalayam attend school and do well in their studies. Many of them study in private schools and Sharanalayam bears all expenses.

How Sharanalayam came into being

The NGO started its operations in 2001 from rented premises in Pollachi in the district of Coimbatore. It had seven children. The first child to be brought to Sharanalayam was a baby of four, who was mentally challenged, and her mother chained the daughter when she went out to work.

When Vanitha came to know about this child, she went to inquire and saw that the baby was in a horrible state. She promised the mother that she would take care of the baby. “The baby hardly had any strength. She used to be called ‘insect’ by the people in the neighbourhood. The doctor said that she might not survive beyond a month. But she did for over a year, under my care. I named her Shakthi,” recalls Vanitha.

Sharanalayam has come a long way since that time, with hundreds of children being taken care of by the NGO in the last two decades. Many have become professionals in various fields, including medical care, engineering, counselling, banking, etc.

Sharanalayam needs urgent support to take care of 80 children under its care. The organisation also aspires to take care of many more orphaned and abandoned children in the coming months and years. Vanitha cannot do it without your support. Donate now.