In Vrindavan, thousands of elderly widow mothers face the harsh reality of abandonment and suffering. With no one to turn to, many are left begging on the streets, exposed to heat, cold and rain,Donate so that Maitri can provide shelter, food, clothes and medical support to abandoned elderly mothers now. Give generously.Winnie Singh has witnessed many cases of widow mothers being abandoned on the streets of Vrindavan, one of the holiest places in India. “Children leave their mothers as soon as they become widows. The children start feeling the burden. This has become a practice in today's society that money comes first and everything else later,” says Winnie whose Maitri India, rescues widowed mothers from the streets of Vrindavan.Many widowed elderly mothers often end up living a lonely life and begging to survive on the streets. And Maitri aspires to take care of every widow in need of help, but because of lack of funds, Winnie and Maitri are in a position to do it."Elderly widows don't have shelter. They sleep in cowsheds over sacks. They don't have a blanket. Nights are really difficult for them," shares Winnie Singh. <img src="https://cfstatic.give.do/1abfb906-563b-4747-85b8-8af2071a2856.jpg" />Maitri aims to:<ul><li>Provide shelter and nutritious meals leading to improved health and wellbeing</li><li>Make physical and mental health services accessible</li><li>Offer necessary quality aged care and assisted living support</li><li>Increase awareness and engagement around the struggles of abandoned widow mothers</li></ul>Why donate to MaitriWinnie needs your support to help those in need of food, healthcare and well-being. “Maitri urgently needs your support to provide nutritious food, clothing and healthcare to sustain these widow mothers who are prone to more illnesses as they age,” appeals Winnie. “You can become the family they were denied. Hold their hands so they don't need to beg ever again,” she adds. Let’s rescue abandoned widows mothers from the streets of Vrindavan and give them a better future. Donate now.Our help will enable Maitri to save hundreds of abandoned widows from a life of begging, and restore the respect, dignity, and identity they deserve.

Help provide shelter, food, clothes and medical support to abandoned widow mothers of Vrindavan. Donate now

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Help Disabled Children with Shelter & Care

“We received a distress call saying that a blind girl is being held captive by a woman and is being forced to beg. Our volunteers were able to rescue that girl and bring her to the Blind Welfare Society home for girls. We cared for her and educated her. Today that girl is a senior government official”, says Asha Bhola, President, Blind Welfare Society (BWS) as she recalls how her organisation has been able to transform lives.BWS has been a ray of hope for 40 such blind girls, many of whom have been abandoned by their families owing to their visual impairment. Sadly, the care, shelter and education for blind girls come at a cost, and BWS is unable to keep its work going. Your donations can help shine the light of education upon 40 blind girls and change their lives forever. Donate easily through UPI, all debit/credit cards and net banking. Charitable donations to this fundraising campaign are tax exempted under 80G of the Income Tax Act (India). Neglect, Abandonment and StigmaIn various parts of the country, a blind girl is often seen as a curse and a burden for no fault of theirs. According to the nonprofit office bearer, “Many parents neglect their blind daughters and at times even sell them off for begging, etc. Even if the girl is from a well-to-do family, they feel providing education and care to a blind girl is a waste of money”. “What is the fault of an innocent child?”, she asks.Education, the only hope “These girls have no future without education. If they don’t receive education, they will remain uncared for. They will continue to be ignored by not just their families but even by society at large. Whatever I am today is only because of the education I received. But sadly, every blind girl is not as fortunate. Most visually impaired girls are deprived of any care and even something as basic as education thus leading to a life of darkness”, Asha adds. You can be the light in the lives of these 40 blind girls who have not seen anything but darkness. Help support their education and be a catalyst for change in their lives. Donate nowPlease donate to this fundraiser by Give, India’s largest and most trusted online donation platform, to help women facing domestic violence break the endless cycle of abuse and give them safe shelter.

Your donation can help 40 blind girls get food, shelter and care. Donate now

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Sristi Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Villupuram District rural Tamil Nadu, India that works towards improving the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. At Sristi, we empower people with intellectual and developmental disabilities with training and skills that will enable them to lead a more independent and dignified life. Our methodology combines education, life skills training, and agriculture. On the 10-acre of land, we have created an inclusive and holistic environment that we lovingly call Sristi Village. Sristi Foundation runs three (3) pioneer projects: Sristi Village, Sristi Special School, and Sristi Farm Academy as well as a lot of community support and environmental projects.Through these projects, marginalized individuals are given the opportunity to learn, grow, and become independent whilst being provided with nutritious food, shelter, and a loving &amp; supportive environment.

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Karthikeyan Ganesan

Sristi Foundation

This nonprofit is registered as a charitable trust under section 12A of India's Income Tax Act, 1961.

This nonprofit is registered under section 80G of India's Income Tax Act, 1961. This means you can deduct 50% of the donation you made through your tax return.

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The contributions of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are not valued. Their talents, skills, and potential remain largely untapped, under-utilized, and under-developed. While their employment rate is very low, they have higher than-normal living expenses; hence, they are one of the most impoverished groups in India. PWDs face several barriers in getting employment. They also face social and psychological barriers – ignorance, myths, criticism, stereotyping and misconceptions about their capacities, non- acceptance by the peer groups, fear and low self- esteem. Unfair access to education and training program is a major challenge that needs to be resolved. To overcome the crisis and to understand the requirement and condition of a person with disability we provide support by which individuals make and sustain a living. PWDs participation in economic activity is necessary not only for sustenance but also for the basic survival and to contribute to one’s self- esteem and enhancing self- fulfilment. PWDs need to be able to learn about life skills and obtain employment which they can physically access and work at despite their ability. Also, Sristi Foundation’s own experience made us realize that we have to create opportunities to facilitate their social and economic inclusion, for that Sristi is initiating various farm based livelihood projects and programs to enhance the life of our community members. The main aim of creating opportunities is to manifest their potential and thereby to find fulfilment of life through socio- economic rehabilitation to be achieved by them on their own merit and to live independent and meaningful life. 
 At Sristi, we empower people with intellectual and developmental disabilities with training and skills that will enable them to lead a more independent and dignified life. Our methodology combines education, life skills training, and agriculture. On the 10-acre of land, we have created an inclusive and holistic environment that we lovingly call Sristi Village. Sristi Foundation runs three (3) pioneer projects: Sristi Village, Sristi Special School, and Sristi Farm Academy as well as a lot of community support and environmental projects.Through these projects, marginalized individuals are given the opportunity to learn, grow, and become independent whilst being provided with nutritious food, shelter, and a loving &amp; supportive environment.Through experience, we learnt that agriculture provides a perfect education with great potential for employment. In a supportive and loving environment, our Sristi Village members learn how to manage and work in an eco-farm. Farming is not only a therapeutic method to boost their confidence, but also has the potential to create self-reliant income opportunities for them. Through our eco-friendly projects, marginalized individuals are given the opportunity to learn, grow, and become independent whilst being provided with nutritious food, shelter, and a loving and supportive environment.  
 1.    To develop livelihood activities which the people with disabilities can themselves effectively manage and which can augment income and provide employment in the area to live independently.2.    To create an individual self-identity and recognition for people with disabilities in our community. Livelihood is critical to combat poverty and is closely linked to the basic human rights. It is essential for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities - not only because it gives degrees of freedom to take control of life but also because it helps improve one’s self esteem, so very essential for leading a life of dignity and respect.3.    To ensure person with disability voice to be heard and to gain control of their own lives and to reduce vulnerability and to increase their self-resilience.4.    To provide equal opportunity, empowerment and social security to participate in all aspects of life.

Building opportunities beyond disabilities through organic farming

Sristi village is an inclusive residential community which offers people with intellectual disabilities the chance to live, learn, work and generate income allowing them to reach their full potential to live independently. The village currently consists of 100 peoples which includes children and young adult with disabilities, staff, parents and volunteers. We bought 9 acres of land and we produce our own organic food by farming. With the generous support of donors we built an accessible kitchen and for that we need kitchen equipment which can be accessible by the members. We aim to give food in a safe and hygienic environment with good quality vessels.  
 To provide quality food for our members in a safe and hygienic environment we constructed accessible kitchen now we need proper equipment and vessels to provide healthy food. Our aim is to make the member to be independent and to learn the basic life skills. Cooking is one of the basic skills an intellectual disabled need to learn. With proper equipment food can be served at specified time and it will not be time consuming if proper vessels are used. In the kitchen we teach the members life skill so we require quality equipment for easy to access. 
 Food is a wonderful way to share and celebrate the diversity of culture and traditions. Our aim is to cook food in quality vessels and to serve on real dishes to bring a modelling sustainability. We are connecting the eating experience to a set of values that leads members naturally toward a healthier future. Through our progress we ensure to provide hygienic, safe and healthy food for our members. Kitchen cum dining hall is a beautiful place to sit and share the food with love. The quality atmosphere helps the members to have happy healthy meal. The atmosphere of the common dining room can bring 100 people together every day.

Essential Kitchen equipment for Sristi Village

Over 1.6 million people in India are registered disabled according to the 2011 Census and approximately 75% of them live in rural areas. Unfortunately, education and training provisions for disabled people are minimal, and concentrated in cities. This means that disabled people in India have little access to appropriate education and training opportunities and often face financial hardship and a lack of work opportunities. Additionally, the disabled people are often ostracized from communities and their families. The India: Social Development Report 2016 – Disability Rights Perspectives states that there is a ‘disproportionate disadvantage, exclusion, and stigmatization suffered by persons with disabilities’ which is ‘caused by cultural, social and physical barriers' that obstruct their effective participation in social and political life’. We aim to help the disabled people we work with to overcome these barriers, and to give them the skills and confidence needed to achieve their goals. By providing PwDs with training in agriculture, especially profitable forms of farming, we are both providing them with the skills needed to live independently and generate their own income, whilst also mending social perceptions about disabled people. 
 Sristi Foundation is a farm and agro-based entrepreneurial residential training academy for the intellectually disabled and marginalized people. The Farm Academy will run a programme every 2 years for a group of 30 new trainees, giving them the opportunity to experience the self-sustained, organic lifestyle of Sristi Village while learning valuable skills from our experts. The main objective of our project is to empower intellectually disabled and marginalized people so that they attain a state of self-employment.Through our 2-year training programme, they will have the opportunity to develop their self-confidence and leadership capabilities, while they are trained for farm and agro-based activities (mushroom cultivation, organic gardening, herbal gardening, dairy farming, bee keeping, poultry rearing, goat rearing, vermi compost). This know-how and professional experience will allow them to sustain themselves and their families through self-employment and thus, fulfil their dream of independence. To achieve this goal, we will also facilitate the launch of their own ventures as a group enterprise through guidance and support such as strategic partnership development, loan acquisition and marketing. 
 1.	Creation of job opportunities to end the cycle of poverty and disability. 2.	Participants to gain self-confidence and knowledge of their own rights. 3.	Every 2 years, train 30 new individuals in the skills of: farm operations, milk animal rearing, setting up and running a profitable plant nursery and seed bank, honey bee farming, mushroom cultivation and the importance of organic and sustainable farming methods.4.	Individuals to gain the skills and expertise to financially support themselves and their family.5.	Overall quality of life will improve for participants and their families.6.	New sources of revenue generated by the launch of self-employment ventures in the local community.7.	Development of positive attitudes towards the disabled in the surrounding communities

Creating the opportunity for disabled persons to become self-reliant through integrated farm

In India, the contributions of people with intellectual disabilities are not adequately valued. Their talents, skills, and potentials remain largely untapped, under-utilised, and under-developed. While their employment rate is very low, they have higher-than-average living expenses; making them one of the most impoverished groups in India. To end the cycle of poverty and disability, access to employment opportunities is vital. However, UNESCO data reveals that a majority of people with disabilities are unable to earn a livelihood, citing reasons such as the lack of adequate education and training. This highlights an urgent need for employment opportunities for people with disabilities. 
 Sristi Foundation runs a special school for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, offering education and training that aims to develop them into self-reliant individuals. The curriculum focuses on managing basic individual needs such as self-hygiene, eating and reading, along with behaviour and speech therapy to help them become independent enough to become a part of mainstream society. We take the advantage of being a school on a farm and optimise our students’ motor skills by involving them in basic activities on the farm, such as playing with the soil, working on the nursery and interacting with animals. Here, children are taught to take responsibility for themselves as well as being considerate towards the needs of others.Our teachers approach every child as an individual and conduct a thorough assessment of their respective background and needs, before devising a suitable curriculum. We consider the curriculum as a preparatory stage in their pursuit of further studies or choice of occupation. We try and source external trainers to teach them basic communication and social skills that aid them to interact better with members outside of their community. This streamlines their readiness to be a part of mainstream society. 
 Meet Banu Priya:Banu Priya is a student in our Sristi Special School. When the government school refused to admit Banu Priya because of her disability, her family got worried about her future. Luckily, they came to hear about Sristi Foundation and were able to enrol their daughter into our school. Banu Priya has many developmental delays. She is unable to walk without support and speech is difficult for her. She requires a lot of support while at school. Right now, we are focusing on providing her with the speech and physical therapy she needs. In addition, we are giving her special education, focusing on rudimentary lessons (such as the alphabet, colours and shapes), and daily living skills (dressing, bathing, and eating independently). Banu Priya is a bright student. Despite her disability, she shows strong determination. All of her teachers agree that she is a joy to have at school. She is very sweet and loving and always showing affection. We are confident that with the right therapy and education, we can give this amazing child a good life. Please consider making a small monthly or annual contribution to sponsor Banu Priya. With your financial gift, Banu Priya will be able to continue her therapy and education. This warm and loving girl deserves a full life.