Jeevan Shakti Fund

Jeevan Shakti Fund, the flagship initiative under the aegis of Mitra Foundation, was setup in December 2013 with the goal to provide the “strength to live” (Jeevan Shakti) to the families who have either lost, or likely to lose their breadwinner to any terminal illness like cancer. These families suffer a lot, not only during the illness of the patient, but also after the patient is no more. They suffer both financially as well as emotionally. During the terminal stage and later, families have very little support to live on, especially if the patient is the main bread winner for them.

The main areas where we support are:

• Education support:

The education of children in beneficiary families is the first casualty, when they have difficulty in making ends meet. They need financial support as well as encouragement to continue education. We give financial help towards school fees, other school related expenses like books/uniforms. We also support additional tuitions, if needed

• Vocational/skill training:

Our main aim is to make the families independent so that they can support themselves over time. For this, someone from the surviving families (mostly spouse) needs to start earning for the family. We enable this by providing vocational training so that they can learn the required skills. If they already have some skills, we provide them initial support to start work/small business. We have provided sewing machines, vegetable carts, initial financial support to buy inventory to set up a shop/business etc. They nature of this support is dependent on what they beneficiary wants to do

• Sustenance/Grocery support:

When the patient is in the last stage or has just passed away, their family has no means to even feed themselves, esp when the patient had been the main bread winner. So, till they find some means to start earning, they need some immediate support towards groceries. This support might also needed if there is some other emergency in the family.

• Emotional support

Most families need emotional support during their tough times, They also need some guidance on meaningful employment opportunities., health concerns, and other personal problems. Our volunteers provide this support and stay well connected with the families.

In addition to the above, we also conduct a few activities/events like Jeevan Shakti Manch, where we invite all the beneficiary families and get them to interact with each other as well as with other well-wishers and volunteers, Shakti Smaran Divas, Career counselling for children of beneficiaries.

Over the past 10+ years, Jeevan Shakti Fund has supported more than 100 families.

We work with multiple hospitals/Palliative centres to reach out to the needy families. These include Karunashraya (in Bangalore and Bhuvaneshwara), Shankara cancer hospital, St Johns hospital, and more.

We have had several active volunteers (30+) who help with meeting the families multiple times in the year, provide them guidance and emotional support and stay connected with them frequently.