| WHAT WE DO FOR CHILDRENChildren, being the building block of society, require a safe and protected environment to blossom. CORP believes that education is the strongest tool which can brighten a child’s future and therefore, we have range of programmes designed to serve children of all ages and academic backgrounds. Along with education we also care about nutrition, health and child rights. Through our various programmes we ensure a secure, encouraging and enriching environment to over 1,500 children every year.
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Crèches (Daycare)A child grows into a wise and responsible person on the basis of a strong foundation. So the first few years are very crucial for the overall development of children. Our network of crèche programmes has been operating in the poorest areas of the city. CORP works to nurture the children in a homely environment by providing them with nutritious meals, basic healthcare, hygiene and of course fun learning.
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Residential Shelter HomesOur residential shelter homes are designed with the objective of providing “hearth and home” to destitute children. Most of the children living in the shelter homes were formerly homeless or abandoned. CORP’s shelter homes are like home away from home, where we provide the children with nutritious food, education, regular heath check-ups and other basic needs. The children are taken care by our staff, who live with them as house parents and treat them as their own children. Here every child is treated as an individual and is given regular counselling, which help us in understanding and moulding the child’s behavior. Some of our children have already turned into professionals like nurses, teachers, auto-mechanics. Though, they live in hostels CORP continues to support them with funding for accommodation, tuition, travel and other expenses till they become self-sufficient.
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Sharanam Shelter Home for Girls
Sharanam was started fourteen years ago in Mumbai’s biggest slum Dharavi, to support the girls who were homeless, destitute, neglected or abandoned.
This year Sonam made history by being the first to successfully complete graduation and is now working as a nurse in a reputed hospital. Bharti who completed her photography diploma from Rachna Sansed College of Art, conducted her first photo exhibition. Twenty one out of thirty six girls are enrolled in English medium schools.
As many of our girls approach graduation we have hired a full-time Education Programme Officer to assist them with college preparation, admissions and career planning. Seven of our girls are attending colleges whom we support by paying tuition fees, hostel lodging and boarding. Three girls did summer-internship.
The girls throughout the year enjoyed various activities like dancing, singing, basketball, swimming, art and craft and also shot a video.
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Grant Road Shelter Home for Boys
The shift of shelter from Reay Road to a well-equipped apartment in Grant Road, which happened at the end of 2012, saw a significant change in the overall development of our children, be it academic or otherwise. This year we have a new addition, David, the son of house parents Jonathan and Pinki. He is the little baby brother for the eighteen boys living in the shelter. Since education is our main priority, this year fourteen boys are enrolled in English and Semi English medium schools. One of our boys, Vishal, successfully completed his automobile mechanical course and has started working while continuing his class VIIIth from night school. CORP is providing him with accommodation and other expenses as well.
The boys also enjoyed many activities like cricket and football training by professional coaches, swimming and yoga classes throughout the year.
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Thane Shelter Home for Boys & Girls
Our third shelter home based at Thane was initially started to provide safe shelter to children of commercial sex workers working in nearby red light areas. The children are either orphans or abandoned by their poverty ridden family. This is the only shelter where girls and boys live together as many are siblings.
From this shelter, this year three girls appeared for Xth board examination, out of which, Deepali scored 82.2 %, and two have been admitted to junior college. Three more girls completed a three month MSCIT computer training course. Fourteen one out of thirty three children are enrolled in private schools.
It was also a fun filled year; children participated in many activities and external competitions like dance, skit, football and cricket matches.
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Disabled ChildrenBringing up a child itself is difficult for any family living in slums, but the problem for parents of a child with special needs are overwhelming. Not only is it more expensive to raise a child with disability, but parents often lack the required social and professional support.
To help such parents and children CORP developed an integrated programme to improve the lives of disabled children. Our life skills session teaches positive strategies to cope with daily challenges, while counselling provides psychosocial support. We also provide education support and computer classes to these children. We try to integrate them in regular private and government-run schools by offering additional coaching and support as and when required.
At our two centers, one at Matunga and other at Thane the children are given regular health checkups and physiotherapy. Children with hearing impairments receive care at the Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped, where they receive pediatric, IQ, and educational assessments, as well as speech therapy. This year we distributed 21 hearing aids, 1 caliper and 28 wheel chairs. CORP also provides career counselling and professional training to older children so that they are able to cope with their disabilities.
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Education Support“Education for all” this is what we believe in. At our community centers, we provide before and after school tuition programme for children who need special attention as most of them get minimal educational support at home.
Over 150 children at our centers receive personal attention, study materials, school accessories, homework assistance and nutritional snacks in a conducive environment. We at CORP not only help children but also counsel parents about the importance of education.
For school drop-outs also we have a series of non-formal education classes, which includes non-certificate courses in basic literacy and maths. We encourage these children to join one or the other programmes so that they can support themselves and their families despite being a drop out from school.
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Daycare Centre for Street ChildrenOur daycare centre for street children was started with an aim to rehabilitate homeless children from nearby pathways and railway platforms at Grant road. The children attend the programme between 9 am to 6 pm daily. They learn basic Hindi, English, maths, art and craft, attend computer, music and swimming classes in a protected environment under the supervision of our staff. It’s a forum for social interaction for these children. We also provide hot nutritious meal, medical care and counselling. Nearly 100 children visit us on a regular basis. The centre also arranges sponsorships and placements for school-aged children while providing remedial education and job training for youth. CORP goal is to build a relationship with them in the hope that we can make their future bright and help them in breaking the cycle of poverty.
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Community Toy Libraries"Toy" is the love of every child. The joy is much bigger for those children who have never got a chance to play with them. CORP, therefore, established Community Toy Library in partnership with Toybank, a local non-profit organization that specializes in providing toys and games to disadvantaged children. The children aged between 6 to 15 years visit twice a week for two hours at our centers in Dharavi, Matunga, Reay Road, Thane, Virar, Ambernath and Jogeshwari. The children not only play but also learn from these interactive toys and games. This helps us in observing the child’s behaviour from the game he or she chooses and provide counselling support if required.
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