Salesian Province of Mumbai

☼ DON BOSCO SNEHALAYA

History

Don Bosco Snehalaya, A Home of Love, came into existence on May 24, 2001. A new beginning is always difficult. A persistent problem that had to be faced was that of finding a suitable location for the Shelter Home. In the course of five years Snehalaya shifted to ten different places until it finally settled in a new and full-fledged Shelter Home at Vishwamitri almost in the heart of Baroda city. The basic objective of Snehalaya is to provide shelter to the young living on the railway platforms and in the streets who are in need of care and protection. Snehalaya provides food, clothes, medicines, recreational facilities, counseling, job placement, contact with their kith or kin, training in some income generating trades according to their capacities and limitations. They are given opportunities to interact with the public, to express their potentialities and talents. This helps them to develop their self-confidence and the consciousness that they too can contribute something to the society.

Present Activities

Shelter Home : The main function of Don Bosco Snehalaya is the Shelter Home at Vishwamitri. Its purpose is to give the street children what they need most – A Home of Love.

Outreach: The first contact with the runaway children is made on the stations and streets of the main cities of Gujarat. Street educators meet the street children there and begin to build up a relationship of friendship and trust. The outreach programme is conducted at the Ahmedabad, Nadiad, Anand, Godhra, Vadodara, Bharuch, Ankleshwar, Surat, Dahod and Valsad railway stations.

Drop-In-Centres: Drop-In-Centres provide day care and night shelter, giving the children personal safety and a place for rest and recovery. Presently Snehalaya runs 4 Drop-In-Centres atAnand, Valsad, Dahod and Ankleshwar.

Homelink & Missing Child Search: Gaining importance in the Snehalaya family is the Homelink and Missing Child Search programme. It is both a software and a network to collect information about all registered street children so that missing children can be found and returned to their families.

Roshni Project: Roshni is an educational project operated by Snehalaya in the slums of Baroda. This projects aims at spreading literacy in slum areas by providing study support and other facilities to the children. Presently 15 study centres are conducted through this project.

Our Collaborators

Shelter Home - 11

Out Reach – 7

Drop In Center – 8

Home Link – 2

Roshni – 16

Contact Information

Address

Don Bosco Snehalaya Shelter Home

B/h, Mahindra Tractors

Near Vishwamitri over bridge

Vishwamitri(w) Vadodara Dist.

Gujarat – 390 011

Phone: 09825754358

Email : boscosneha@rediffmail.com