In a country where care for the needy has long been accepted as poor at best, St Judes is working to not only fill in a large unmet need, but also to fundamentally change this mindset. Every child suffering from cancer, irrespective of economic status, deserves to get the best chance of surviving the disease and leading a full, healthy, happy life. St Judes provides this chance through its support of a well-established model of cost-free, holistic care during the period of the child's treatment.
In major cities of India where low cost cancer treatment is available, children who need treatment for cancer and their parents come to hospitals from distant towns and villages often travelling 100's of miles. The hospitals do not treat them as inpatients during the long drawn out treatment process and these needy families do not have a place to stay whenever the child is not admitted to hospital. This can result in families living on the street or returning home before treatment is finished.
St Jude India ChildCare Centres currently runs 39 Centres in Mumbai (19) , Delhi (5), Kolkata (3), Hyderabad (1), Jaipur (3), Vellore (2), Guwahait (2) Varanasi (2) and Chennai (2) . These centres provide the families, free of charge, with:
- Housing
- Nutritional support
- Transportation to and from the hospital
- Counselling for the family and new skills for income generation
- Educational and recreational activities
- Art-based therapy, music therapy and yoga
The homes are happy places where each child with their family is warmly welcomed and loved, giving them hope and new learning experiences as they complete their cancer treatment. The right physical and emotional support, provided in tandem with a child's medical treatment, will help them live more positively during their cancer treatment and increase their chances of surviving.
St Judes is committed to working with hospitals to deliver this complete circle of care, creating a strong home environment for children and their families during the child’s cancer treatment, when they could otherwise be struggling to survive on the streets. Our centres are homes that combine safety, love and hygiene and teach children and their families the foundations that they need for a healthy and happy life. Showing one child and their family what this support achieves, gives them knowledge to take back to their community.