Ashraya Initiative for Children

The Ashraya Initiative for Children is a home for street children in Pune, India, that replicates a family environment, allowing for the holistic physical, mental, emotional, and social development of our eleven former street children, and nurturing individual growth while promoting community values. We also seek to address the deeper issues that force children to live on the streets—poverty, disease and discrimination, to name but a few. In this vein, we work in the nearby slums, promoting education, health and a communal space around which lasting improvements might be made by the community. While we are not oblivious to the immediate needs around us (and we provide for basic needs such as tuition, school supplies and healthcare when necessary), we constantly strive to empower those around us to design and implement their own ideas for improving society around them.