Residential Care will always be our first priority.
We offer free lifelong residential care to the homeless elderly at both our homes, Bhalobasha and Charunibash. Members stay with us till the end of their lives (unless we can reunite them with their family and ensure that they receive the appropriate standard of care at home). We welcome people of all caste, creed, faith or orientation and when it is their time to leave this world, the arrangements are made with dignity and in accordance with their wishes.
We provide our members with the opportunity to rest and heal in a loving family environment where they can recover from the trauma of being separated from their family members and being homeless.
We believe that there should be a sense of community in each home and encourage our members to participate in different aspects of the running of the house to the extent that their health allows. We have fully trained, experienced staff including a cook, medical aid providers and a manager in each home as well as other specialists on call as required who expertly oversee the health, nutrition, emotional and physical care aspects of living with and caring for the elderly.
We organise and encourage our members to take part in group activities such as board games, impromptu music sessions, creative workshops and reading sessions which they enjoy. Enthusiastic volunteers make these interactions very special for everyone.
We run an outreach school for underprivileged children from the local communities at both homes. These schools, called the Happy Classrooms are hubs of activity where the children are supported with their schoolwork and also given extra curricular activities to do such as crafts, social work and music lessons. Our members often take part in these activities resulting in a happy interaction for both young and old.
We encourage visitors, whether individual, families or groups to come and spend time with our members, talk to them, share a meal or even perform for them. These visits are often the highlight of the members day and are talked about with childlike delight for many months.
We organise periodic excursions for our members as also our staff so that they can see how the world around us is changing. This is a challenging exercise given their age, physical condition and emotional issues and we rely on dedicated volunteers and staff to arrange this in a way that is safe and comfortable for all. We also organise an annual away day to recognise and celebrate the work that our staff do with such enthusiasm and commitment
For more information about our team, click here
Children from Class Nursery to X attend classes from Monday to Saturday. The students are all from the nearby slum and struggle to remain in the mainstream education system. Every child attends the local government schools and we provide subject wise teaching. Presently the total number of students in Bhalobasa is 79 and we have 11 teachers.
At Charunibas, we have morning sessions for Nursery and class I. The rest come in the afternoon. Total 72 students are taught by 5 teachers. The students attend the regular government school but there are several issues which keeps them away from attending the centres. Home visit and regular interaction with parent is an important practice for both Happy Classroom Centres.
In both HC centres we provide ample opportunities to children and elderly residents to interact so that the residents enjoy their company and in return the children learn to respect and care for the elderly. Our students are also trained to take care of the environment, cleanliness,
gardening, peer – teaching and in takes responsibilities as assigned from time to time. Along with academic support children are encouraged to develop as conscious citizens which will ultimately benefit their families, community and society.
We also try to support deserving students by sponsoring their schools fees and education related costs.
We encourage and support students for vocational training so that they can earn for their families. Presently two of students Simran Parveen and Suparna Batang who passed their class X, successfully completed their theory on basic nursing and are now doing practical in Hope Foundation Hospital.
Over the years in several batches we have conducted training on tailoring for the local women of Madhubati and surrounding villages. We wait till they apply to us and once we gather 25- 30 names the training starts. Our latest training was from August 23 till February 2024 with 50 classes for 2 hours each. 24 ladies joined but only 12 completed their practical and theory and they are now professionally equipped. Drop out due to various social reason is prevalent and is a challenge.
Our present batch of 20 pupils has started from 11th May 2024 and by November 2024 they will finish with an exam.