Our Mission

Our mission is to raise awareness of HIV among children and young adults in India and help provide them an opportunity to have a normal life. To do so, we raise funds and create revenue generating programs that will serve as vocational training centers for young adults living with HIV.

India has the 3rd largest population of people living with HIV in the world. The southern states of India - Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala - together have about 780,000 registered adults and 50,000 children living with HIV. Fewer than 50% of the people living with HIV are on ART- Antiretroviral Therapy. Although ART is free for HIV patients through public health care, many fear stigma and discrimination and choose not to seek assistance. Government funding for non-ART treatment has virtually stopped since 2013.

In 2013, SnehaCares started a partnership with Sneha Charitable Trust in Bangalore, India to accomplish our goals. Sneha Charitable Trust provided accommodation, food, and nutrition to about 300 children and young adults, between the ages of four and eighteen, who have been orphaned by this epidemic. They were infected through mother-to-child transmission of the virus. With adequate medication, nutrition and purpose to live, these young adults can live a normal life.

Majority of these young adults have turned 18 years of age and have been discharged from the custody and supervision of Sneha Charitable Trust. At 18, they are considered legal adults and no longer eligible to stay in an institution. They cannot afford to go to college and at 18 they have not acquired advanced skills for good jobs. They work as delivery boys, shop assistants, shelf stackers, counter attendants and waiters. These are low paying jobs and provide no benefits or security for their future.

SnehaCares continues to maintain a relationship with these young adults and provide them guidance and support when they need.