I dream of a world where there are no homeless people on the streets.
My universe is their home- Sandip Parab
Founder of NGO Jeevan Aanand Sanstha Shares his inspiring story with us.
He is the Godfather, a friend, supporter of 635 lost & 138 homeless people aging from 2 years to 85 years old.
We see Philanthropy by People who are wealthy, but this mission of support and care for homeless is started by someone who himself was struggling in Poverty. At times, he fed homeless people by starving himself
He has always been helping the needy and destitute who are being neglected by society with no one to turn for shelter, food, clothes or medicines.
Sandeep is fighting for getting them dignity along with basic living like food, clothing, and shelter.
Here are the details on the interview of Mr. Sandip Parab with team of Inspirational Beings.
Please tell us about your education and family background
I am Sandip Parab, we founded NGO Jeevan Aanand Sanstha which is now operative in three districts of India: - Mumbai, Palghar and Sindhudurga. I finished my BA and Masters in Social works from Mumbai University.
My family was fighting poverty, so I started working at a very young age to support my family.
When and how did you think about starting Jeevan Aanand Sanstha?
When I was a child, my mother taught me to believe in the power of sharing, she taught me to use our faith and strength in supporting helpless and vulnerable people. So, the seeds of humankind service were planted at a very young age.
To support my family, I used to clean cars on the roadside, but more than my own worries, I used to get sadden to people in pain who lived in nearby slums. I started working for the people in the slum areas for getting them water connection and sanitation facilities. In that phase, I realized, we need not be rich or powerful to help others, but the most important thing is, to see beyond our personal sufferings.
When I started working for the beggars and poor struggling for life on the roads, I used to see lot of wounded senior citizens dying on the streets because of medical treatment not reaching them on the time. Even if the police admitted some of them to the hospitals, they couldn’t devote time to follow up such cases.
Once I happened to see, one old person lying on the road in unconscious state and was in a bad health condition. I took him to our centre, and then while nursing him, we got to know that this person was suffering from mental disorder, When I tried to find out his details, I was surprisingly shocked to know that this person was retired Principal of one of the renowned schools in Gujrat. His children were highly educated and were leading a very good life. His family became very happy to receive him back.
I realized, there was not only the need of rehabilitation of roadside beggars but also of the people who are lost or suffering due to mind illnesses and wondering on the roads.
Though, I left my job and started serving roadside beggars in 2008, I formally founded Jeevan Anand Sanstha in 2013 at Sanvita Aashram, Kudal in Sindhudurga district, then expanded our work by opening new centers at Khar, Santacruz and Virar in Mumbai.
What challenges did you face while carrying mission of supporting homeless? How did you overcome?
Initially my family and friends struggled to understand why I wanted to leave my job for something which was completely unsecured. However when they saw the satisfaction on my face, they started working with me.
Financial constraint is a major challenge, We bring homeless people to our shelter home from across the country, taking care of their medication, food, living expenses as well expenses for searching their houses incurs huge expenses, we don’t get any support from government, with Society’s support, we could rehabilitate over 800 people till now. But sometimes, we face the concern of continuity of donations.
Getting local volunteer to support various activities at centres is also difficult.
We try to overcome these challenges by writing on our face book pages, through our existing donors.
Explain more about Jeevan Aanand mission, what makes your mission special and Unique?
When we see any helpless people on the road or if someone informs us about such person we reach out and get them to our shelter home. All facilities and care provided to the inhabitants are free of cost.
First, we focus on their temporary rehabilitation; we bring patients with severe wounds or any medical emergency to centre. They are bathed, treated and provided with food and shelter. Then we work on their recovery and in parallel, search for their family members is initiated.
We have setup two day-night shelters to cater to the roadside destitute and patients in Mumbai, India – One for males and the other for females.
In cases, wherein there is no family, then we move them to permanent rehabilitation centres to Virar or Kudal. In the interim, these patients are looked after with love and care, with nutritious meals and medical aid.
We Provide holistic (food, shelter, health, recreational, livelihood and rehabilitation) services to all inmates under one roof.
Our foundation engages inhabitants in various activities at our homes, be it gardening, plantations or Physical exercises. Volunteers at Sanstha, dedicate themselves in personally maintaining basic hygiene for all the homeless people, who have been left on streets due to various diseases, memory loss.
Many humans today need support to get back to their own life. We not only help individuals who are wondering on streets, but we also reach to various poor and needy people. Jeevan Aanand Sanstha has been regularly supporting more than 500 poor & needy people by providing various training, counseling, lectures, skill development workshop and camps.
What is your future plan and how can society contribute to this mission
We have a larger plan to build a chain of these homes across India, and give shelter and dignity to as many as we could.
My appeal to world is please take care of your parents and elders at house. If you take care of their physical and emotional health, then there won’t be anyone deserted on roads counting days between death and life.
Please volunteer in supporting NGOs who works for the vulnerable, helpless people who needs to be supported on daily basis, and there is so much to do for this cause as there are very few NGOS for homeless and paupers.
I believe, Single person can’t change the world but each one of us can change the world of few people and can contribute towards better world.
Make one of them smile, and you be the reason for their smile.
No one should be homeless and those who have no house in the world they belong to Jeevan Aanand Sanstha.
Please find the website and details of this angel who aspires to free destitute from agony and pain
Jeevan Anand Sanstha,
Address: New BMC Colony, 2nd Hasnabad Lane, Near BMC School,
Khar (W), Mumbai - 400 052.
Website: www.jeevanaanandsanstha.org
This story is supported by
Rucha Raghvendra Kulkarni
The Bishop's Co-Ed school , Kalyaninagar , Pune, India
7th grade student