SOS Children’s Villages of India’s Scalable ‘Family Like Care’ Model Bags United Way’s Social Innovation Award 2020-21

Hyderabad: SOS Children’s Villages of India, the largest child care NGO of its kind in the country, has bagged the Social Innovation Award 2021 from United Way of Hyderabad (UWH), a non-profit volunteer-led organisation, under the Game Changer category, for its flagship Children’s Villages project, a scalable ‘Family-Like Care’ intervention, creating long-term impact on the lives of children without parental care.

Established in 1964, SOS Children’s Villages of India is currently raising about 7,000 children (0-25 years) without parental care in loving homes with mothers, brothers, and sisters –12-15 such homes located within secure campuses (Children’s Villages). The project is operational at present in 32 locations in 22 states and one union territory.

UWH has instituted the Social Innovations Award to recognize the best of the projects of corporates and NGOs in education, health & wellbeing, financial stability, and environment in India. The jury of the Award for 2021 comprised board members of UWH, members of academia, and professionals of Ernst & Young, auditing & consulting firm.

The citation reads that SOS Children’s Villages of India “has committed itself to bring about long-term sustainable change in the Care and Wellness sector at a scale”. It also acknowledges that the NGO has “built and supported models to respond to the long-term as well as emergent needs of the most vulnerable populations, to build healthy and self-dependent generations”.

Commenting about winning the award, Mr. Sumanta Kar, Senior National Deputy Director, SOS Children’s Villages of India, said “the Award serves as a tremendous source of inspiration and motivation for the entire team at his organisation. He added that the primary objective of Family Like Care is to de-institutionalise child care for children without parental care, and provide a family environment for them to grow up with love, respect and security.

Each SOS Children’s Village typically has about 12-15 family homes – and every home raises around 8-10 children. Every child is looked after by an SOS Mother, a trained childcare professional, who lives with the children and builds a long term emotional relationship, enabling children to develop their full potential, transforming and molding their lives till they become self-supporting and contributing members of the society. The children grow up surrounded by siblings and family ties, learning the values of mutual help and sharing, in a community they can call their own.”