" Beautiful people are accidents of Nature...
Beautiful parents are work of Art "
Bhalobasha, (the House of Love) is currently home to 9 female residents- all of whom were rescued from the streets of Kolkata. It can comfortably accommodate upto 15 residents at a time.
FOKE’s core philosophy is to provide a loving family setting for our residents as opposed to providing institutional care and this has worked wonders for the morale and mental health of all who come to us. Our residents live together as a family and take an active interest in the events, programmes and daily chores involved in running a household. They are looked after by a loving team of dedicated staff who keenly observe and provide for their every need just as we would do for our parents and elders at home.
Bhalobasha came into being in 2004 when we took in our first cohort of four members to realise their dream of having a place to call home.All four were homeless women living on or around Sealdah Railway Station in Kolkata and they were originally beneficiaries of FOKE’s Railway Station Food Programme. The inauguration of Bhalobasha was a unique event when Agustina, Jharna, Shefali and Shanti welcomed the guests to ‘their home’.
With the help of our benefactors, well wishers and CSR support from truly benevolent organisations, the house has been renovated, expanded, and made senior friendly. We constructed a beautiful annexe to the original house in January 2021, dedicated to our first Patron, Sr M Cyril Mooney IBVM – herself the epitome of love and compassion and whose work has been the inspiration for our own journey.
This house is currently home to 10 female and 5 male residents- all of whom were rescued from the streets of Kolkata. It can comfortably accommodate upto 17 residents at a time.
Charu Nibash is named in honour of Late Charubala Devi the matriarch of the Mukherjee family to whom it belongs. Charubala Devi’s daughter in law Late Mrs Debrani Mukherjee was the driving force behind our receiving this beautiful house and the surrounding gardens for housing our residents. Mrs Debrani Mukherjee and her family have not only encouraged us but also supported us wholeheartedly in renovating this house and making it suitable for our residents.
With the family’s blessings, we began our humble journey in 2005 as a home for 12 members.Since then, the Mukherjees have ensured our tenure on the property and allowed us to carry out extensive renovations to improve facilities and implement a range of outreach programs for people from the surrounding area.
