Old age home for 350 abandoned elderly women

Dear Maitri Friend,

Maitri's second home for ‘elderly destitute widows’ is now fully functional in Radhakund, Vrindavan. It provides a comfortable safe space to the widows who were abandoned by their families and have had to live in destitution taking away their identity and dignity.

In 2015, MaitriGhar translated as 'Home where you can live in dignity and with love', had a soft launch with 45 widows making it their home. With your generous support and donations from friends of Maitri – we have been able to construct two more floors and it now houses 75 widows, with space for another 25 widow mothers. 

We ran short of resources in buying beds, mattresses, bed linen and almirahs etc. As soon as we have the funds for the same, we will be able to accommodate the 25 who are eagerly waiting to call it home. We would like you to know that apart from the 75 widows living in the home, there are additional 75 widows who benefit from the program and get their mid day meal, milk, fruits, clothes, medical care and access to citizenship rights such as widows pension, UID card, Voter card, ration card etc.

We take pleasure in informing you that, we are now ready to start the skill building and income generation program in March 2017. MaitriGhar in Vrindavan and Radhakund will start a small-scale business in making cloth bags, employing 80 widows to start with, which will be sold in the local market as well as in Delhi. Some boutique owners have expressed interest in supporting the program by placing orders as soon as we are able to procure 50 machines and fabric for six months. We visualize the program being sustainable by employing the widows living in and out of MaitriGhar, while it will give them dignity of labor, the profits will help it move to a higher level. We look for your support in buying stitching machines and fabric.

An important feature of the Maitri’s Old Age Homes for the widows is that Maitri has been successful in installing solar panels ensuring regular supply of electricity 24x7x365 days. Both the homes will be able to generate enough electricity to service the needs of the residents of each home and yet have surplus energy. This is our effort towards clean sustainable energy.

In the last quart, r 24 widow mothers had to be taken to the hospital for treatment nearly 70 times for various health issues. Hypertension, general weakness, low blood pressure, diabetes, and stomachache are some of the health issues the widows complain about. The resident nurse has been providing nursing care at Home to three widows who are bedridden. 

We feel happy to let you know, the widows physical health is in good condition and that despite being 24 hour bedridden, they are living in extremely hygienic condition with no ulcers or sores and clean diapers.

One of the resident widows at MaitriGhar, Vrindavan, Kapuri, has been bed ridden for sometime. She suffers from general body ache, weakness. We have been able to keep her comfortable and in good health and spirits because a fully equipped medical bed was donated by one of Maitri compassionate donors. With good care and diet provided to her, we are sure she should recover her health soon enough.

40 additional widows have been able toget access to Widow’s Pension for the first time, with the support of Maitri. It is Maitri's objective to ensure each widow has access to her rights and gets voter card, below poverty line card, widows pension etc.In the recent state assembly election the widow mothers cast their votes for the first time since they got voter cards now. They were proud to exercise their rightto vote as it has established their identity.

Please know that your support goes a long way in uplifting the destitute widows of Vrindavan and giving them a chance to live with identity, dignity and respect. NOW they are no longer destitute. We look forward to your continued support. Lets keep working together to bring dignity in their lives!

Thank you!