Driven by the need to prevent children from being separated from their families and to transition children from CCIs to family and family-based alternative care, in 2018, Miracle Foundation India had made a strategic shift in its focus, from CCIs to family-based care. Our partner, Mahesh Foundation, running a CCI named Asha Kiran in Belagavi, Karnataka, and providing care for children living with HIV, initially faced significant challenges in transitioning children back to their families.

However, the organization’s founder, Mahesh Jadhav, recognized this as an opportunity for transformation. Supported by the DCPU and CWC, Mahesh Foundation strategically navigated the complexities involved in reintegrating children by focusing on building community awareness on HIV and the importance of family, ensuring timely access to Antiretroviral Therapy and medications, helping meet families’ basic needs, and most importantly through addressing HIV-related stigma and discrimination.

Through collaboration and steadfast commitment to the cause, Mahesh Foundation has successfully reintegrated several children with their families, ensuring they grow up in nurturing environments. Today, only 14 of the initial 62 children remain in institutional care, that too given the absence of available family or guardians. Besides, they facilitate quality education for underprivileged children and employment opportunities for single mothers. They deliver comprehensive support to families and children impacted by HIV, including nutritional assistance and other essential services, ensuring that families remain united.

As Mahesh Foundation and Miracle Foundation India complete 11 years of impactful partnership, the collective resolve just gets stronger – to ensure that every child grows up within a loving family.