I am fundraising for a cause close to my heart, to bring a lasting change in the lives of the underprivileged. To help me create more impact and touch more lives, I need your support and contribution. Please back my fundraiser so that together we can build a better India for all of us. Pledge your support, donate now!

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

“The major problem in society today is the stigma against mentally ill or mentally disabled people. Families feed and care for men who are mentally ill and keep them at home. But no one wants to help women with mental illnesses,” says N Vanitha Rengaraj, chairperson of Sharanalayam.Sharanalaym’s ‘Jothi’ is a sanctuary for over 100 women facing mental challenges. Women with mental illness facing various challenges on the streets are brought to Sharanalayam with the help of the authorities and cared for. <img src="https://cfstatic.give.do/88597e5c-903c-4c84-8cf5-34ba9d96defd.webp" />Donate easily through UPI, all debit/credit cards and net banking. Donations to this fundraiser are tax exempted under 80G of the Income Tax Act (India).The women at Sharanalaym Jothi are provided with necessities like food, clothing and medical care. They also get mental health services, access to psychiatrists and counseling, empowering individuals on their path to recovery.Once lost and vulnerable on unfamiliar streets, the women at Sharanalaym Jothi find solace.By supporting mentally disabled women at Sharanalaym Jothi, you contribute to creating a better world. We can ensure these women receive the care and support they deserve.Over the years, Vanitha has tried her best to run Sharanalayam from her own resources and that of her well-wishers, but the last few years have been harsh. “I normally don’t extend my hand for people to donate. Many have come on their own. But life has become a bit difficult now. I need your support to take care of the women here and also bring more women here in need of help,” says Vanitha.<img src="https://cfstatic.give.do/e5b9bb35-4261-4187-a4cc-d89ac34d66cc.webp" /> How Sharanalayam came into beingThe NGO started its operations in 2001 from rented premises in Pollachi in the district of Coimbatore. It started with taking care of children in difficult conditions. It slowly started taking care of mentally challenged women. Sharanalayam has come a long way since that time, with hundreds of children and women being taken care of by the NGO in the last two decades. Many women were rehabilitated by the NGO, thanks to its facilities.Sharanalayam needs urgent support to take care of over 100 women. The organisation also aspires to take care of many more mentally ill women in the coming months and years. Vanitha cannot do it without your support. <img src="https://cfstatic.give.do/37ef7f6a-11d8-4a6c-b176-41dd5b51c21f.webp" />Donate to this fundraiser on Give.do, India’s largest and most trusted online donation platform, to help abandoned mentally ill women get care and shelter. Vanitha, 70, the founder of Sharanalayam cannot do it alone.Donate now.

Help 70-year-old Vanitha provide 100+ abandoned mentally ill women with shelter and care

Adults with intellectual challenges are taken on a journey of Discovery to enhance employability skills keeping in mind their interests, strengths and special conditions, if any, for work. Diya works to build on strengths and enhance skills in different areas keeping the person in mind. Internship opportunities are provided to offer 'hands on' experiences to understand inclusivity and employer expectations. Real time experiences are offered in the IT sector, Retail, Hospitality and Housekeeping sectors.

Livelihood

Adults with intellectual challenges are trained to deal with challenges of Life through life skill training in activities of daily living. Diya's pre-vocational training program provides young adults coming into the program training on Personal management, Household management and Financial management. They are taught to groom, look after their own rooms through activities like dusting, cleaning, cooking healthy meals, understanding importance of fitness and well being and how to stay within a budget whilst doing all this. From a space of 'I can't to I Can the journey is one of tremendous transformation in self esteem and enhancement of skills. 

Education

Work is the ultimate goal of every human being. It sometimes defines who we are. Confucius said "Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life". Finding the right job match for our young adults is something that we at Diya aim towards through our Employability soft skill training and domain training. Young adults are taught the importance of regular attendance and punctuality, how to accept positive criticism and give praise, learning to be flexible and problem solving skills, about process, quality, meeting targets, and teamwork. All this builds up individual strengths, maturity, physical endurance and prepares them for the World of Work. Being empathetic and understanding the other person is a maturity level that we all strive towards. Our young adults with special needs are trained in all these areas to the extent possible to support them in finding a skill and job that they would be happy doing.  

Differently Abled

This is a sample description for Livelihood. For the purpose of testing I will use the word LivelihoodLivelihoodLivelihoodLivelihood.

This is a sample description for Differently Abled. For the purpose of testing I will use the word Differently AbledDifferently AbledDifferently AbledDifferently Abled.

This is a sample description for differently abled

differently abled

Diya Foundation was born out of the need to provide adults with Intellectual challenges life experiences, training and a safe environment where they could be prepared to meet life’s challenges with dignity and positivity.Maria Santamaria, a special educator, began this venture with 3 adults and one staff. Supported by family and friends and an initial investment of Rs. 3000/- Diya Foundation was registered in Bangalore, Karnataka, as a charitable Trust in March 1999. Diya Foundation (DIYA) is a Vocational Training Center in Bangalore providing training and employment to adults with intellectual challenges. Founded in 1999, DIYA is a registered charitable Trust. The idea for the center grew out of a growing need for vocational training once basic schooling is completed. At Diya training is provided in Daily Living Skills, Self determination and interpersonal-Social skills, Communication Skills, employability skills.The need of the hour is to tap the potential of a workforce that has so far been greatly ignored. The focus at Diya is on Vocational Education and Livelihood training for the differently abled.In the last 25 years Diya has impacted over 250 adults with intellectual challenges and touched and made life altering changes in over 1000 lives. The work skills training imparted is put to use in the "hands on” training internship at our Social Enterprise Diya Innovations in completing orders for Diya’s product line from individuals and corporates. Diya’s aim and goal is to empower differently abled individuals to work, earn and live a life of respect and love.Individuals with an intellectual challenge have had life altering changes in their self esteem, self dependence and productivity through systematic and consistent training in the Diya training program. They have learnt personal grooming skills, household management, work skills, communication skills and are then given 'hands on' internships which may result in job opportunities either in Supported employment or Competitive employment. Recently we also started customised employment and prevocational training, as we were getting more students from the 15-17 age group. This way the foundational training begins earlier and later the students are able to focus on domain training. Our focus is also on internships and placements of our students.Over the years, Diya has been working with only adults in the age group from 18 and above, some do join the program without any basic foundational skills and hence, the journey to self-dependence for them takes much longer. Diya feels it is the need of the hour to start reaching out to the youngsters (14 -17 years) and start early on developing the foundational skills required through pre- vocational training programs before they can be transitioned into the Vocational training program. This training will contain the foundation level of Daily living skills and Personal social skills. So that when they reach 18 years, their capacity can be built for employability skills that will prepare them for the world outside. By then we have set the mindsets for work and productivity and their interests can then be mapped to job profiles that will match their strengths and interests. Pre- vocational training is linked to building the person towards an employable pool in society. With a suitable job, they become contributing members in their family, earn respect and live a life with dignity.Our Vision and Mission: Objective 1 - To enhance self-awareness, build self-esteem and independence of adults who are intellectually challenged by training in Daily Living Skills and Personal Social Skills;Objective 2 - To develop potential to engage in productive work by Pre-Vocational Skills training, vocational skills training, occupational guidance and employment;Objective 3 - To build community awareness about the work potential of the intellectually challenged by engaging with schools, Colleges, Corporate CSR Initiatives and Individual volunteersObjective 4 – To build support systems for the families of the intellectually challenged by forming Parent Support Groups and networking with similar NGOsOur USPCreating Futures, Communicating Hope, Celebrating Life

Donations through Give Foundation, registered under section 80G of India's Income Tax Act, 1961 are tax-deductible.

Donations through Give Foundation, Inc. a registered US 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization, are tax-deductible.

Donations through GIVE, a registered charity in UK, are covered under Gift Aid

Maria S. Santamaria

Finance

Ruby Roy

Diya Foundation, Bangalore

Deepika, a 16-year old girl was diagnosed with borderline retardation and now has been employed by Diya Innovations Pvt Ltd, a social enterprise set up as a sustainability plan to employ and market the products of the foundation. Her confidence escalated after she was trained to make candles, for which she received earnest praises. With the guidance of her trainers, she learned how to work responsibly and  make a mark for herself.

Diya Foundation has not only given her an opportunity to look forward in life but she happily engages herself in the work she has been assigned.

There are a lot of achievers in this foundation working up the ladder to get more and more responsible work. One such achiever is Prithviraj Babu, who now inserts rivets in 35 paper bags in one day. It’s not just Deepika and Pritviraj Babu, who have added colors to their lives, making paper bowls is now a cakewalk for Shafiq. The trainers of these people take immense pride on their commendable initiative.

In a world where differently-abled are kept away from the contours of education or any work, Diya Foundation has taken a brilliant step forward in improving their condition.

Making the world a better place for the differently-abled

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.

This nonprofit is registered under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010. This means it can accept donations from foreign nationals.

Vidya Joanna Stephen

Join us in making a difference by contributing to the dreams of Vijay, Neethu, Jashwanth, and Abhishek through donations on India Philanthropy Day. Your generosity will directly impact their lives and set them on a path to success.

India Philanthropy Day, 20th July 2023 "Dreams Unleashed: Empowering Lives - Support Diya Foundation's Trainees!"

Create change with NGOs on Give.do! Explore 3,000+ NGOs dedicated to causes like human rights, animal welfare and healthcare. Your contribution matters!

Find the best NGOs in India on Give.do and Donate to Fundraisers

NGOs Listing page

India has over 50 million physically and mentally disabled people. The challenge is that infrastructure is not compatible to the needs of the disabled and the vocational education system is such that adults with intellectual challenges have very few places to go where their potential to work and their right to a dignified, self dependent life is recognized. 
 Diya Foundation offers a Life Centered Career Education program that focuses on Life skills and Employablity skills geared towards independent/assisted living for the future. The training offered is Daily Living Skills in the areas of Personal management, household management, financial management, personal social skills building; The Employability skills training encompasses training in the areas of Clerical, Retail, Housekeeping, Hospitality and Production - where 'hands on' training is provided in Chocolate making and wrapping, candle making/packaging, paper recycling; Gardening skills and Computer data entry/Multimedia training are also offered in addition to Work readiness skills and Occupational guidance. 
 We train 65 adults with intellectual challenges every year who, by the end of the training, are ready for either paid/unpaid productive work either at home or in the Community. Adults going through the training are self confident, self dependent adults who are looking to gain employment and maintain a living. We have to date, 18 adults placed in employment. Our next project is a pilot for independent living to teach adults with intellectual challenges real life time budgeting and practical living.

Sponsor skill-building workshops for the disabled

The road to the Diya foundation is inaccessible and terrible for people with wheelchairs, and the main mud road is uneven and difficult to walk on. The training rooms in the existing building have to be fabricated, and the spaces are small, with insufficient space for people to move around. There is little greenery outside the building and no open space for people to sit outside and enjoy the serenity of nature. We are looking at expanding as there are new parents interested in enrolling in the training program, due to insufficiency we need to accommodate only a few young adults. We’ve been paying a peak rent of 1 lakh monthly, which has become unsustainable. Our land/ premises will give us a sense of belonging and permanence in the community. 
 We have raised one crore towards our goal, but we need three crores to acquire land and construct the building. To achieve our goal we are appealing to Bangalore-based companies and individual volunteers to run for Diya at the TCS World 10k Run 2023. We are also connecting with our past supporters, volunteers, and interns. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Diya for the silver jubilee we would like to showcase quarterly our varied training programs, also display our coffee table book, share engaging stories of change, and celebrate our trainee's journey. 
 The aim is to improve the training program, focusing on designing spacious training rooms that are conducive to learning, and skilling. Getting our premises can help accommodate young adults and help interested parents work together. The vision is to impact 500 more students with intellectual disabilities with vocational training and support them in finding employment. Our vision is also to create a pool of 250 employable adults who are ready to meet the job market as they get skilled. Together we can celebrate their path of change.

Sponsor skill-building workshops for the disabled

Provide Diya Foundation the space to nurture and train people with intellectual disabilities

Help Disabled Children with Shelter & Care

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

Help 70-year-old Vanitha provide 100+ abandoned mentally ill women with shelter and care

Disclaimer