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SAKHI RECEIVES $300,000 GIFT FROM RAMESH AND KALPANA BHATIA FAMILY FOUNDATION, WILL OFFER YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING

NEW YORK, NY. — The non-profit Sakhi for South Asian Women has received a gift of $300,000 from The Ramesh and Kalpana Bhatia Family Foundation to support its effort to expand youth programs and services.

Sakhi said the money would help it to launch and sustain a new Youth Mental Health Counseling Program and also adding a certified mental health counselor to its staff to work with youth survivors. The gift will allow for the full development and sustainability of the program over the course of three years, which will officially launch in 2020.

Well known for its activism in combatting gender-based violence in New York City’s South Asian community, Sakhi said there was a noticeable rise in child survivors seeking services and the new program would create the necessary space for healing and carving a stronger future.

Sakhi’s executive director Kavita Mehra said, “We are confident that serving youth in this new capacity will make us a more resilient organization that can better support our community. Our vision for the future is to further engage in community-based work, organizing, and mobilization, while continuing to provide critical services to the diaspora and lowering the barrier-to-entry by being in and of the community. With the support of The Ramesh and Kalpana Bhatia Family Foundation, we are taking a crucial step in that direction.”

Anita Bhatia, executive director of The Ramesh and Kalpana Bhatia Family Foundation, said, “Seeing the direct impact our charitable dollars have had, has made us want to pursue a longer-term partnership with Sakhi. Collectively, we recognized a gap in the services offered and the need to create a safe space for children that have witnessed or have themselves experienced violence. We are confident that this mental health program will not only help break the cycle of abuse for today's youth, but also for future generations.”

Sakhi for South Asian Women is committed to serving survivors through a combination of efforts including direct services, advocacy, technical assistance and community outreach.
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The Ramesh and Kalpana Bhatia Family Foundation, founded in 2006, is a private family foundation dedicated to making an impactful change around the world focusing on organizations that support education, mental health, human rights, women’s health, poverty reduction and more.