Hope is dedicated to a holistic approach to development and has intervened in the lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children. These interventions include the support of 12 residential child protection centres and 50 projects in child protection, healthcare, nutrition, education, vocational training, micro-credit, emergency healthcare, counselling, drug rehabilitation, anti-child trafficking and anti child-labour programmes.
The organization works alongside 12 grassroots non-governmental partners in Kolkata, Howrah and 24 Parganas in West Bengal, to achieve long term sustainable development. Over the last 16 years, it has reached over 30,000 children through education and protection projects and touched the lives of over 300,000 individuals who are associated with these children.
The children who are placed in Hope’s Protection Homes are vulnerable children living on the streets and in slums, rescued by our Night Watch ambulances, referred by the Child Welfare Committee or Childline as well as cases put forward by Hope social workers and staff working in slum projects. They have often been subjects of exploitation owing to the dangers of living on Kolkata’s streets or in its slums.
The Homes offer a safe environment and an integrative approach to all aspects of child care, covering shelter, health, nutrition, and education for their emotional, social, economic, cultural and cognitive development. The homes ensure services with standards of the highest quality, and aim to improve children’s developmental readiness to start and complete primary schooling.
With the help of TFWA Care, Hope will this year make a big difference to the education of children residing at two of the Foundation’s Protection Homes in Kolkata: Kasba Girls’ Home and Ashirbad Boys’ Home.
Education empowers children to change their future, gain more skilled employment, and enable them to make positive long-term changes within their community. The Hope Foundation’s Protection Homes ensures services with standards of the highest quality to the children under their care and aims to give access to and ensure inclusive, quality education and promote lifelong learning. This year, TFWA Care will continue to support the Hope Foundation and help them enable 17 children from its current protection homes to receive higher education and job training. The grant will also support their food and accommodation for an entire year.
Under the care of HOPE’s Protection Homes, higher educational needs of these children from marginalised communities will be provided. Each of the children will be enrolled in either higher education of Class 10 /Class 12 or technical training according to their aptitude and aspirations. By providing educational sponsorship for these children, they have the chance to live a secure and self-sustaining future for themselves and their family.
With the growth of HOPE’s Protection Programme, the girls that once resided in its Panditya building have been moved to a larger protection home, a more secluded and peaceful area of Kolkata. Last year TFWA continued its assistance and enabled Hope to renovate its Panditya building and turn it into a much needed training center. The renovated space catered for the growing demand of HOPE’s Computer Training Course where 240 adolescents and young adults between the ages of 15-25 years received quality vocational training in basic and advanced computer skills and English classes. The new construction also provided space for the staff and a meeting room utilized for more workshops and trainings held throughout the year.
‘Good things happen only if we make them happen’