The Hope Foundation's primary objective is to protect children who live on the streets and in the slums of Kolkata. HOPE works to protect children from exploitation, abuse, starvation, and sickness and supports children to access their rights for a brighter and secure future.
Children identified in need of care and protection are placed in HOPE’s Residential Childcare Programme with an order from the Child Welfare Committee. HOPE supports its partners in identifying children in need of care, protection, and support. Based on the need of the child, HOPE extends its support through residential or community-based care programmes. There is no limit to our care - children supported by HOPE will have a family and support for life, not just until they turn 18. Children restored to their families from residential care will be supported through our home-based education sponsorship programme.
HOPE’s Residential Childcare Programme provides vulnerable children with a home away from home, a loving, caring, and safe environment in which children can learn and grow into independent, successful and happy young adults. It has always been HOPE’s priority to restore children to their families, where possible and appropriate. We strive to prepare families to take responsibility for their children through strengthened interventions to improve the social and economic situation of a child’s home before restoration. Where home environments do not exist, or the family cannot be traced, the children are referred for adoption.
10 Residential Childcare Centres (6 for girls and 4 for boys), supported by The Hope Foundation, were established to provide temporary protective shelter for children of 6-18 years who are identified as in need of care and protection by the Child Welfare Committee.
Bekind Boys Childcare Centre – Bekind Boys is managed by HOPE and fully funded by Bekind Ireland. The boys are provided with a safe and secure protective home to learn and grow in.
Kasba Girls Childcare Centre – Girls rescued from vulnerable situations on the streets and within the slums of Kolkata are provided for holistically. The girls also engage in recreational activities and outings, while residing in a safe, child-first environment.
AsharAlo Girls Childcare Centre – HOPE’s new girl’s childcare centre provides all the necessary care for young women to become independent, informed and confident young women through guidance, education and job placement support.
Ashirbad Boys Childcare Centre – Boys who are rescued from Kolkata’s dangerous streets and slums are provided with a safe and protective shelter, with a loving and caring environment in which they can call home.
PBK Girls Childcare Centre – A shelter home for children of sex workers in the Kalighat district of Kolkata, working to eradicate second generation prostitution through the restoration of their childhoods and the delivery of education, protection, healthcare, counselling, recreational and holistic and full development.
Keertika Girls Childcare Centre – 25 at-risk girls are supported in the Keertika Home through the provision of healthcare, education, protection, counselling, nutrition and recreation activities. Many of the girls have fallen victim to trafficking, physical, emotional, psychological and sexual abuse or were at great risk and danger of such violations and neglect.
BPWT Childcare Centre for HIV Infected and Affected Children – Protective shelter which provides care and support to HIV/AIDS infected and affected children, ensuring they receive quality health and medical care, nutrition, counselling, family support and formal education. 25 boys and girls are catered for in the Snehaner Childcare Centre.
Crisis Intervention Centre Male – Providing immediate care and protection to boys and young men who have been rescued from hazardous and dangerous situations on the streets of Kolkata. The boys are placed in short-term protective care and receive holistic support such as nutrition and counselling, alongside rehabilitation, restoration and repatriation support to return home, where appropriate and possible. If unable to return home, the boys are placed in protection homes for their long-term protection and development.
Crisis Intervention Centre Female – Providing immediate care and protection with a temporary shelter home for girls and young women who experience violence, abuse or neglect throughout the streets of Kolkata. The services provided are the same as the male Crisis Intervention Centre (see above).
Punorjibon was established to identify and provide safe shelter and treatment to boys who were vulnerable and addicted to substances. The boys are abandoned, orphaned, or have run away from home due to abject poverty, neglect and abuse and found themselves surviving on the railway platforms of Kolkata.
Child Watch is a unique project centred on the care and protection of vulnerable children and building a strong bond between communities and education, protection and healthcare systems.
The project focuses on enrolling children within the age group of 6 to 14 years in formal school. Vocational training support and guidance are given to children over 14 years of age who have dropped out of school.
Child Watch works closely with the parents, especially fathers, to increase their involvement in their children’s lives and encourage children to ensure retention in school.
Women are often subject to violence within the family, a place which is expected to protect their dignity and assure their safety. Nearly one-third of women in India have experienced physical or sexual violence. Incidents of violence at home affect the mental and physical state of a child. One of the common forms of abuse and violence against mothers is separating their children from them and forcing them to leave home. Fueled by mandatory stay-at-home rules, economic uncertainties, and anxieties caused by the pandemic, domestic violence has increased globally.
The Mother and Child Care Unit, established in 2010, is a short-stay home which provides safe shelter to mothers and their children who were abandoned by their families and/or experienced domestic violence from their husbands and were compelled to leave their homes and take shelter on the streets and platforms of Kolkata.
HOPE runs a unique programme for young adults to continue further education and acquire vocational skills for independent living. Providing educational support to these young adults allows them to fulfil their educational aspirations and provide a secure and self-sufficient future.
Orphaned and abandoned children over 18 years are placed in the After Care Programme for a temporary period. During their stay, they are provided with nutrition, medical treatment, higher education support and professional skill training to get a job and start a career. After acquiring professional degrees and jobs, they are self-restored and become self-sufficient.
