Sponsor the living expenses of women in a shelter home

Impact

**Sonam was found by the police abandoned and wandering on the roads when she was 6 years old.** All attempts to find her parents were in vain and so, they registered her with the Juvenile Welfare Board. Upon the advice of the Juvenile Welfare Board, they enrolled her in the Bal Gruha run by the Shraddhanand Mahilashram. Sonam grew up in the Bal Gruha with other children like herself. She was given the love and care that she deserved. She grew up as an Ashramkanya, as the girls who live in the shelter home are lovingly called. **She grew up under the care of qualified social workers who nurtured her. They looked after her educational and emotional needs.** Sonam was a lovely and quiet girl. She completed her Higher Secondary from Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey College. **When she turned 18, as she had no place to go, she moved to the Shraddhanand Mahilashram's Aadhar Gruha.** She was always fascinated by nurses. She used to observe well dressed nurses in the hospital in her childhood. When it was time to pick a career, she expressed her willingness to become a nurse. She applied to the General Nursing Midwifery course in J.K. Somayya Hospital. **She cleared her entrance exam, interview and a medical fitness test and got selected to the three and a half year nursing course.** After completing the course, she did a six-month internship in K.G. Somayya Hospital in Mumbai. They were so happy with her hard work and skill as a nurse that she got offered a job as a staff nurse in the same hospital. Sonam got married by accepting a proposal that she received through the ashram. The couple is now blessed with a child. Sonam is continuing to work. **She went on to become the department in charge in the NICU Department and then a senior staff.** **Many abandoned girls like Sonam who would have grown up on the streets with no future are now happy and contributing members of the society.** **Your help can make many more abandoned girls like Sonam find a safe shelter so they can make a life for themselves. You can donate to their living and medical expenses in the Aadhar Gruha. You can give with confidence because every program listed is [GIVEASSURED](https://www.giveindia.org/giveassured).**

About The Program

Shraddhanand Mahilashram runs $B!F(BAadhar Gruha' - a shelter home for young girls and women from 19 to 40 years of age. They provide shelter, food, healthcare, education and overall development. Shraddhanand Mahilashram runs a shelter home for 48 abandoned children. If after the children after 18 year of age are not yet adopted, they move to the Aadhar Gruha. Girls between the age group of 19 till about 40 stay in Aadhar Gruha, the home for women of Shraddhanand Mahilashram in Matunga. The home takes care of their health, basic needs and education of these girls. Regular health check ups are done for the women. The girls attend college or vocational courses based on their interests. They also learn handicrafts and other activities such as sewing. The products that they create are sold at exhibitions, and a part of the earnings is given to them as pocket money. The social workers, nurse, attendants, and house mothers help and counsel them as required. They are also helped with marriage, if they wish, through the Ashram on receiving suitable proposals. This program covers the cost of living expenses and healthcare of the girls and women who stay in the Aadhar Gruha homes. It also covers the staff salary which includes Social workers, nurse, attendants, house mothers, as well as electricity and telephone costs. When you donate to this program, you help abandoned and destitute girls have a secure home to live as they work towards their future.

About The NGO

Shraddhanand Mahilashram started in the year 1927 in memory of Swami Shraddhanandji (Munshiram). Starting as a shelter for women, the now have an old age home in Vasai, the Bal Gruha in Matunga, as well as two hostels. Their main programmes include an orphanage and an old age home. The homes have been operational for decades and are run in a traditional set-up. They run a home for girls, as well as boys up to the age of 5, beyond which they are sent to boys' shelters. The orphanage has separate sections for babies, young girls, and older girls who are attending college. Shraddhanand Mahilashram is involved in their entire upbringing, school, college, and even marriage, in care the girls want to get married. The old age home is in Vasai, and has both paying and non-paying beneficiaries. Bal Gruha houses the smallest kids, Adhar Gruha houses the older girls and there is an old age home for women above 60. Shraddhanand Mahilashram works with a vision to help create a world free of destitute women and children.