Children and Community Outreach
Don Bosco Ashalayam continues to strengthen its mission of empowering vulnerable children through consistent community outreach. The team works closely with families in marginalised neighbourhoods, offering support that ranges from education and counselling to health awareness and skill-building initiatives. Street-connected and at-risk children are identified through regular field visits, ensuring they receive safe shelter, quality education, and emotional care. Community meetings, awareness drives, and collaboration with local volunteers help create a protective environment where children can grow with dignity. Through these collective efforts, Ashalayam not only transforms young lives but also uplifts entire communities, fostering resilience and hope for a brighter future.
Asha Sishu Siksha Project (ASSP)
The Asha Sishu Siksha Project (ASSP), started in 1996, runs 11 non-formal education centers in the slums of Howrah and Hooghly, West Bengal, mainstreaming about 200 children into formal schools each year. The project supports at-risk children through inclusive education, life skills, vocational training, counseling, and healthcare services, focusing on their overall physical, emotional, social, and cognitive development.
Fit Facility
The Fit Facility Centre at Don Bosco Ashalayam promotes the physical and emotional well-being of children while building their confidence, self-esteem, and social skills. With approval from the Child Welfare Committee, it operates as a 24-hour crisis management center providing care, protection, healthcare, shelter, nutrition, and counseling to rescued and at-risk children, and supports local police. Last year, the centre assisted 256 children.
Homelink Project
The Homelink Network System (HLK) is a web-based software coordinated by the Don Bosco YaR Forum to track, document, and restore children at risk across India. Working with 277 partners across 15 states and UTs, it uses platforms like homelink.in and missingchildsearch.net (with UNICEF support) to quickly share information, generate reports, and help locate and reunite missing children, sometimes within hours.
DB Sharmik Seva
West Bengal attracts many migrant workers to industrial hubs like Howrah, Kolkata, and Siliguri, where they often face health risks, poor living conditions, discrimination, and job insecurity. Don Bosco Ashalayam supports migrants through a Migrant Desk in Uluberia, providing food, clothing, awareness programs, and links to government services. A survey of 2,011 migrants was conducted, and 1,704 families received support.
Street & Slum Children Assistance Project (SSCAP)
SSCAP aims to address the multiple challenges faced by street and slum children, with a special focus on those deprived of their fundamental right to education. The program works to bring these children into a safe and supportive environment, provide access to quality education, and support their overall development so they can build a better and more secure future.
Education for All
Howrah, one of West Bengal’s oldest industrial cities, attracts many migrant workers but suffers from overcrowded slums and poor infrastructure due to unplanned growth. Marginalized communities lack basic services, and many children face poverty, violence, and child labour, limiting their access to education and a better future.
Child Smile Project
The Child Smile Project at Don Bosco Ashalayam supports vulnerable children from the streets by providing shelter, education, nutrition, healthcare, and emotional care. Its child-centered approach ensures a safe, nurturing environment where children can grow, regain hope, and reach their full potential.
