Make a Difference

It is an initiative with the aim of bringing young, trained individuals to interact with kids in shelters and provide after-school support in Maths, Science, and English. The programme supports children from grades 5-10 to enable them to clear grade 10 and pursue higher education. Each volunteer supports a class of 5 children ensuring one-to-one attention.

Dream Camps are 2-3 day experiential camps that focus on helping children build and connect with their dreams through a process of self-growth and transformation. During these sessions, children are exposed to new people, ideas, and experiences, within a safe space that helps them gain self-confidence to pursue their dreams.

It is an initiative that enables children to build their career paths in sync with their interests by providing targeted career counselling, skill/vocational training, placement assistance and facilitating college admissions along with financial support.

Focuses on the youngest age group of children that MAD works with, viz; 10 to 13 years, which will provide them with the foundations, hence enabling them to cope and develop themselves further even if they have to leave the shelter post the age of 14.

The Aftercare program as part of the Age Transitional Model at Make A Difference enables youth to forge a sustainable, independent future by helping them in their career paths. The program provides support to young adults in the form of a reliable mentor after they leave child care institutions (CCIs) and are admitted to college or vocational training or placed in a job. The larger dream of the Aftercare Program is to take them and consequently their families out of the vicious cycle of poverty. As it would be for children from any background, the gaps are too wide for an 18-year-old to be able to make a smooth transition to the real world by themselves, especially without any personal finances or networks. Financial support is required for higher education, Vocational training for youth who want to work immediately after 12th grade, Career awareness, exposure and counseling: exposure to various career options available, Information about various career options available in their area of interest and aptitude, reality orientation with regards to achieving goals. Scholarship plays a pivotal role in ensuring that our vision is achieved. Scholarship ensures that every child in need of care and protection, agnostic of their financial situation is able to acquire quality education. Hence the scholarship that Make A Difference offers is customised for this unique demography. Scholarship ensures that the youth once they leave the CCI has active mentoring and necessary financial support. Quality education and stable housing plays a vital role in ensuring that the youth are able to achieve this goal.