About us

Founded in 1994, Sahaara Charitable Society currently works directly with men, women and children in prisons, visually challenged people, slum children, children in Observation/Children’s homes, trafficked women and children and abandoned/orphaned children, in India.

The History

There are millions of men, women and children in society who fall prey to circumstances or poverty and have nowhere to go. Many of them spend a major part of their lives serving sentences as under trials, children in conflict with law are sent to observation homes with no one to care for, women are trafficked into the flesh trade with their children being subjected to social stigma and many visually impaired women have to struggle for survival and shelter.

Sahaara believes that a helping hand of love and a continuum of services and opportunities is the key to transforming the dreams of the innumerable poor into their realities.

The Approach

Sahaara reaches out to the different marginalized sections of society through various projects. They provide early childhood education, supplementary education, nutrition, medical and health care, counseling and holistic rehabilitation to children living in slums, red light areas, government run observation homes and abandoned or orphaned children.

They also work with men, women and children in prisons providing legal help, medical assistance and computer literacy to these under trials. Besides providing shelter to ex-prisoners, they also provide vocational training enabling them to fend for themselves.

Their work with trafficked women and their children involves providing health care, educational, nutritional and counseling interventions. They also provide shelter and rehabilitation to women who have quit the flesh trade. They help rehabilitate needy visually challenged women by providing them education, gainful employment, wholesome nutrition, safe accommodation and a family environment.

The Impact

Sahaara works in the Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai districts of Maharashtra and brings about positive change in the lives of 1000 prisoners every year, 13 orphaned children, 200 visually challenged women, 2000 children living in remand homes, 350 trafficked women and children each year.

They provide services in terms of education, nutrition, counseling, rehabilitation, gainful employment and holistic development.

The Cost

Cost for a year of pre-primary education for a slum child is $40, a month of meals for a visually challenged girl is $25, month of nutrition for an orphaned child is $28, month of meals for an ex-prisoner is $18 and a month of primary school expenses for the girl child of a trafficked worker costs $45.