The Hillsborough, California-based non-profit Home of Hope has teamed up with Bollywood actress Bhumi Pednekar to deliver more than $195,000 of Covid relief aid to low-income people in India.
India experienced a massive surge in new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths from Covid in April and May; public health experts predicted a massive undercount in the number of deaths, noting that as many as 10,000 people in India were dying each day from the virus, as the new, more virulent and more lethal Delta variant took hold. Oxygen was in short supply, leaving critically-ill people literally gasping for breath.
At the organization’s annual gala — held virtually this year in keeping with Covid safety protocols which discourage large gatherings — Indian American physician Nilima Sabharwal, who founded Home of Hope in 2000, said $90,000 had been raised to purchase oxygen concentrators, which rid air of nitrogen to provide purified oxygen. The concentrators were distributed via the NGO Kanpur Parivartan.
Home of Hope also raised $35,000 to fund a vaccine drive, which vaccinated more than 90,000 Indians. “The government provided vaccines, but had no plan for villages,” said Sabharwal, noting that Home of Hope supporters in India went door to door to vaccinate villagers.
Home of Hope also donated $20,000 to the Mumbai-based PEHL Foundation, which works with children who were orphaned by Covid.
The organization also donated $50,000 to Pednekar’s COVID WARRIORS initiative, which the actress founded after her own bout with the virus. Pednekar’s organization used the money to deliver medical supplies and provide crisis management.
“The idea was to find a sustainable solution,” said Pednekar, in a brief speech at the gala. “I was amazed at the integrity and purity of the organization.”
“My Covid journey was not easy,” Pednekar said, in an interview with India Today. “The first nine days were horrible. My fever persisted, I was extremely tired and my body ached—my skin, nails, even eyelashes, hurt. My mother, who had developed fibrosis in her lungs, had to be hospitalized for 10 days.”
“It was a very unnerving period and it left me feeling alienated and helpless. I knew that this time around, rather than just donate money, I had to do something more,” she said.
“When Corona happened, the entire world panicked and hit the pause button, But we hit the go button and had our best year ever,” said Sabharwal. “Our power was enhanced by the pandemic. We were able to save lives in the nick of time.”
Hope of Hope president Neelam Bhavnani said at the gala: “Covid took our lives by storm. But our beneficiaries were fed, had a roof over their head, and were able to continue their education.”
Bhavnani named several new initiatives undertaken by Home of Hope, which include cooking classes for blind girls, companionship and extended care for senior citizens, and human trafficking prevention, among other ventures.
“The pandemic has had the effect of bringing the global community together,” said Bhavnani.
Her daughter Tanya Bhavnani, who serves in the youth chapter, said she was heartbroken at seeing news footage of people searching for hospitals and ventilators. “I’m grateful we were able to create a space for people to help,” she said.
Shivani Sharma, who also serves in the youth chapter and was part of the Covid Warriors initiative, said: “Every person I know in the South Asian diaspora knows someone who has been impacted by Covid.”
The pandemic also empowered Home of Hope’s youth chapter, which created the MEET initiative — Mentor, Educate, Empower Together — which allowed low-income youth in India to engage with their counterparts in the U.S. Keshav Khanna, a MEET volunteer, said: “You work with students and see them grow, and watch their dreams become bigger.”
The evening event was not a fundraiser, but Sabharwal and other speakers encouraged attendees to donate to the organization, which runs 10 programs across India, focusing on K-12 education, computer training and vocational skilling for low-income youth. The organization also works with special-needs children: Sabharwal spoke of lobbying the Indian government to require a mental health program at every orphanage. Home of Hope is also seeking mandates for employers to hire special-needs individuals.
A roundtable discussion on philanthropy featured Home of Hope advisory board members Kanwar Chadha, Atiq Raza, and Louis Lehot.
Lehot, a business lawyer with Foley & Lardner, said the impact of every donated dollar is immediately visible. He noted the organization has almost no overhead.
Chadha, marketing advisor of infrastructure at Facebook, said he initially thought he would provide Home of Hope with seed money. But he then grew his donations to the organization into an A, B, and C round of funding. “Now I ask every year, ‘what are we going to invest in?’”
“Home of Hope has created pathways for the lowest strata of society to leave servitude,” said Raza, noting kids sold into slavery and prostitution.
“It is really our obligation to give back,” said the chairman and CEO of Virsec Systems.
For more information on Home of Hope, visit hohinc.org
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