One of Holt's legacy partners in India inaugurates a new childcare facility in Aurangabad.

For over 30 years, Holt has partnered with local leaders and childcare specialists to help care for orphaned, abandoned and vulnerable children in India. When Holt staff arrived in India in 1979, one of their first efforts was to help establish a residential childcare facility in Pune, Maharashtra, a state in West India. Here, our new partner agency – Bharatiya Samaj Seva Kendra (BSSK) – began providing care for homeless children. Through the years, Holt has found loving families for many children once in care at BSSK, while the staff at BSSK has continued to grow and diversify their services for children and families in need.

Today, BSSK remains a significant part of our history and legacy, and we are so proud of their accomplishments in caring for homeless children.

Earlier this month, BSSK celebrated one of their most recent accomplishments – building a new facility for homeless children in Aurangabad, a city near BSSK’s headquarters in Pune. For several years, BSSK has supported a branch in Aurangabad, but over time conditions of the care facility began to deteriorate. It was also too small for the 25-35 children who typically reside there.

“At BSSK, we believe that the children who come into our care should have a spacious, well-ventilated and comfortable home,” says Roxana Kalyanvala, executive director of BSSK. Thus, she says, they built a new home.

In 2006, Roxana and her staff began looking for a piece of land in Aurangabad for the new childcare facility. They approached the local government to help keep the land purchase at a reasonable cost, and raised funds for any remaining expenses. Finally, they secured a low-cost piece of land through a local industrial development corporation.

“Getting this cleared took several years due to many bureaucratic hurdles,” says Dean Hale, services director for Holt’s India program. “Through sheer determination, tenacity and good persuasion skills, BSSK secured the land and have build a solid building.”