PROGRAMS

Udayan Ghar

For children who have fallen outside the family safety net, the Udayan Ghar program offers a real home.

Udayan Ghar, which translates to “Sunshine Home,” is a family-style residential model built on a simple but powerful idea: children thrive when they grow up in a stable, loving environment, not an institution. Each home houses around 12 children ages 6 to 18, situated in ordinary middle-class neighborhoods so that children grow up as part of a community, not apart from it.

Every home is staffed by a dedicated team that includes Mentor Parents, lifetime volunteer caregivers, and professional social workers and mental health support. Children receive quality education, nutritious meals, and consistent care that attends to both their physical and emotional well-being.

A Udayan Ghar is never meant to be permanent. Wherever possible, our team works actively to trace families, address the circumstances that led to separation, and reunite children with their own families. The home is a bridge, not a destination.

For those who cannot return, the program prepares them for life beyond it — as confident, capable young adults with the skills and support to build independent futures.

Since the first home opened in Delhi in 1996, the program has grown to 11 homes across four states, having supported over 3029 children.

Skilling & Livelihood Programs

Skilling Centers for Youth

In communities where digital access is limited, a basic technology skill can change a young person’s trajectory.

Launched in 2004, Udayan Care’s Skilling & Livelihood Program provides IT training and career-readiness to underserved communities across India. Centers are deliberately located near densely populated urban neighborhoods, close enough to reach the people who need them most.

Two tracks define the program. Digital Literacy courses are open to all, children, women, and youth. Job-specific courses are designed around real industry needs, making graduates genuinely employable. Both go beyond technical training: students build soft skills, professional English, financial literacy, and the confidence that holds up in an interview room.

An active placement cell connects graduates directly with employers. Centers also serve as community hubs, helping residents access government-issued IDs and welfare programs to which they’re entitled.

Since 2022, 20 centers have been recognized by India’s National Skill Development Council and offer accredited certifications in IT, Telecom, and financial services. Since its inception, 22 centers across five states have equipped over 35,000+ students with skills for lasting self-reliance.

Skilling Centers for Women

For many women in underserved communities, the barrier to economic independence isn’t ambition, it’s access.

Udayan Care’s vocational centers in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, and Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand offer short-term, affordable courses in Stitching, Beauty Therapy, Jewellery Making, Block Printing, Art & Craft, and Computing Skills. Minimal admission requirements ensure financial or educational constraints don’t determine who gets to participate.

Courses are practical by design. Graduates leave with a marketable skill they can use immediately to find employment, pursue further education, or start a small business.

The centers also recognize that many participants are mothers. On-site play school facilities mean women can attend class without having to choose between their own development and their children’s care.

Additionally, Citizenship Advisory services help community members access government welfare programs they’re entitled to.

To date, these centers have equipped over 2,000+ women and youth with vocational skills and a genuine path toward independence.

Udayan Shalini Fellowship (USF)

Across India, thousands of bright, driven young women never make it to college — not because they aren’t capable, but because their families simply cannot afford it.

The Udayan Shalini Fellowship exists to rewrite that ending.

Launched in 2002, the Fellowship is a five-to-six-year program offering financial support, mentorship, and life-skills training to ambitious young women from families earning less than $3,000 a year. Fellows are chosen through a rigorous exam and interview assessing need, talent, and drive. Once selected, Shalini’s school tuition is funded from 11th grade through college graduation.

But funding is just part of it. Each Fellow is paired with a mentor who helps her navigate school, career choices, and independence. Workshops cover everything from resumes and confidence to financial and professional skills — practical prep for a world that hasn’t always included women like them.

What makes the program distinctive is the community it builds. Shalinis learn as much from each other as from their mentors and instructors. Many return after graduation as mentors and donors themselves — investing in the next generation of Fellows.

Shalini is a Hindi word meaning a dignified, empowered woman. That’s not just the program’s name. It’s the standard it holds itself to.

Since its inception, the Fellowship has supported over 18,500 young women across 38 chapters in 15 states — and continues to grow.

These workshops teach skills but also foster the kind of fellowship that distinguishes the Shalini program; Shalinis learn as much from each other as they do from their schools, mentors, and instructors, and many continue to be involved in the program after they graduate, acting as mentors and even donors.  But all Shalinis leave the program as better-educated, self-possessed, and independent young women—prepared and motivated to make a difference in their communities, succeed in the workforce, and help support their families. The term “Shalini” is a Hindi word meaning a dignified and empowered woman, and the goal of the USF program is to turn disadvantaged young women into true Shalinis.

Since its genesis in 2002, USF has supported some 18,500 disadvantaged young women. Today the program boasts 38 chapters in 15 different states: Agra, Aligarh, Aurangabad, Ahmedabad, Baddi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi (North, South), Dehradun, East Delhi, Faridabad, Greater Noida, Gurugram, Haridwar, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Kurukshetra, Mumbai, Noida, Nasik, Panchkula, Phagwara, Pilani, Pune, Thane, Surat, East Mumbai, Vikarabad & Vadodara. In 2022-23 new chapters have opened in Aligarh, Surat, Kalol and East Mumbai, and more than 1,800 new girls were inducted into the USF program across India.