Sri Arunodayam is a home in South India for abandoned children with intellectual disabilities (ID). It was founded in 2002 as a registered public charitable trust and recognized in 2008 as a Reception Unit by the State Government of Tamil Nadu. While most homes act as daycare centers funded by parents, Sri Arunodayam rescues, cares for, and rehabilitates children with ID who have been abandoned by their families. We try to give them what they have lost - a home and a family.
In India, social stigma, extreme poverty, and a lack of awareness and access to resources prompt parents to abandon their intellectually disabled children. The Departments of Social Defence and Social Welfare (Govt. of Tamil Nadu), Child Welfare Committees, and India's ChildLine are the conduits through which these children find their way to Sri Arunodayam where they are loved, nurtured, restored to health, and rehabilitated. In this global pandemic, we see the rate of abandonment increase.
Sri Arunodayam is one among few homes in India that harbor children with ID. Most homes act as daycare centers funded by parents. We, however, assume complete, life-long responsibility for providing safe shelter, medical care, nutritious diets, and rehabilitation services including special education, physio and speech therapy, and vocational training to these children absolutely free of cost. We nurture and holistically develop them for integration back into the community.
Sri Arunodayam has built its foundation on humanitarian values that uphold the dignity and rights of all children, more especially the abandoned with intellectual disabilities. We offer these children the same opportunities that normal children receive, so that they may experience content and purposeful lives. Through our rehabilitation programs, they become self-reliant, gain confidence, and become productive members of society.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
