Old City’s first shelter home trains inmates to be self-dependant

Battling many concerns, one organisation called the Andhra Pradesh Mahila Welfare Society (APMWS) from the Old City, recently set up a night shelter near the Petla Burj Maternity Hospital. The GHMC allotted them land after a span of one year.

The place is a safe haven for many destitute children, young men and women and senior citizens. This is the first shelter in the Old City which started functioning from November 15, 2013. A number of people at the shelter are homeless, mentally or physically challenged and work as daily wage labourers. The shelter was meant to house around 35 people, but as the place is not big enough, only 22 people reside there.

Basic requirements like water, food (twice a day), beds and facilities like health checkups, medicines, etc are provided to them. In addition to this, the NGO is also going to issue identity cards for the inmates. “Our plan is to provide counselling and rehabilitation sessions to the inmates and train them to live independently. Besides this, we also want to educate and employ them as security guards, domestic workers, peons and in other unorganised sectors,” said Inayat Ali Baqri, head, APMWS.

“Our observation is that most of them are in this situation today due to personal problems; a few left their home due to petty fights, a few have migrated to cities in search of employment and have failed,” he added. In the future, the organisation wants to start night shelters at IS Sadan and at Chaderghat, opposite Life Hospital.