Shelter at scale
510 people sheltered in the short stay home and 89 elders cared for in the old age home in 2020–21 — the largest single year the reports record.
Health support & rehabilitation
A short stay home, an old age home and a de-addiction centre — residential care for people the health system does not shelter.
510
Sheltered in 2020–21
89
Elders cared for, 2020–21
57
In the de-addiction home, 2022–23
Understanding
What health support & rehabilitation means
What is health support & rehabilitation?
Health support & rehabilitation means a bed, a meal and somebody to talk to — residential care for people living with a condition, an addiction or an old age that leaves them with nowhere else to go.
The work began in November 2007, when the trust opened a short stay home for people living with HIV/AIDS, with a drug de-addiction centre in the same building, at Mylampatti, Tharagampatti post, Karur district. It was set up at the insistence of the women’s Self-Help Groups the trust worked with, who had identified people living with HIV/AIDS among their own families and neighbours. The home had ten beds, a laboratory and a kitchen, separate wards for women and men, and a staff team of a part-time doctor, trained staff nurses, a counsellor, outreach workers, a lab technician, a cook and a watchman.
Today the trust runs a Short Stay Home and Old Age Home in Dindigul for elderly people and for those with no home of their own. In 2020–21 it sheltered 510 people in the short stay home and cared for 89 elders; the 2023–24 and 2024–25 reports both record 210 sheltered and 69 elders. The short stay home offers counselling, food and basic amenities, help with employment or family reunification, and skill and vocational training; the old age home provides regular health check-ups, medication support, access to doctors and nutritious meals. Separately, a de-addiction short stay home at Tharagampatti treated and counselled 57 young people in 2022–23.
- Specialized care facilities
- De-addiction services
- Medical treatment
- Counseling & therapy
- Social rehabilitation
Why this work matters
The challenge on the ground — and our answer
The challenge
Addiction with no route to recovery
Without a residential place to go, drug dependence goes untreated — and young people and their families are left to face it alone.
Our response
A dedicated de-addiction home
A de-addiction short stay home at Tharagampatti where 57 young people stayed in 2022–23 for treatment and counselling. In 2008–09, 25 patients at the Mylampatti centre were given comprehensive care for prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of addiction.
The challenge
No safe place for people living with HIV/AIDS
During HIV/AIDS training with SHG animators, members began naming people living with HIV/AIDS in their own field areas — family members and neighbours with nowhere to stay, recover or be treated.
Our response
A short stay home built for PLHA
Ten beds, a laboratory, a kitchen and separate wards for women and men, opened at Mylampatti in November 2007 and staffed by a part-time doctor, nurses, a counsellor, outreach workers and a lab technician.
The challenge
Medical treatment alone does not hold
Recovery falters when physical treatment is not matched with mental health support, and when the family around the patient is left out of it.
Our response
Counselling woven into every stage
Counselling runs alongside medical care in every home we operate — and at the Mylampatti centre in 2008–09, 57 family members were counselled on health and family issues alongside the patients themselves.
The challenge
Recovery ends at the community’s door
Even after treatment, people struggle to return to everyday life without an income, a family to return to or a community that will have them back.
Our response
Reintegration, not just recovery
Skill development and vocational training inside the home, plus assistance with employment or family reunification, so that a short stay is genuinely short.
At a glance
The essentials
- Status
- OngoingThe Short Stay Home and Old Age Home in Dindigul appear in the 2024–25 annual report
- Active since
- November 2007When the short stay home for people living with HIV/AIDS opened at Mylampatti, Tharagampatti post, Karur district
- People sheltered
- 510 in 2020–21Also 261 in 2015–16, 210 in 2016–18 and 210 again in 2023–25. These are yearly figures and should not be added together
- Facilities
- Short stay home, old age home & de-addiction homeDindigul for the short stay and old age homes; Tharagampatti, Karur district, for de-addiction
- Project portfolio
- 4 programmes, 2007–2025The PLHA home, the de-addiction home, the short stay home and the old age home
- Delivery model
- Residential careDoctors, nurses, counsellors and support staff on site; nutrition, medication support and vocational training alongside shelter
Track record
Project portfolio
| Programme | Period | Type | Highlights | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short stay home for people living with HIV/AIDS, Mylampatti | 2007–2009 | Key activity | Ten beds, a laboratory and a kitchen, separate wards, a part-time doctor, nurses, counsellor, outreach workers and lab technician. The reports state both “41 patients treated so far” and “126 PLHA were treated” | Completed |
| De-addiction short stay home, Tharagampatti | 2007–2023 | Key activity | 25 patients given comprehensive addiction care in 2008–09; 57 young people treated and counselled in 2022–23, the last year it is recorded | Completed |
| Short Stay Home | 2015–2025 | Key activity | Shelter, counselling, food and vocational training — 261 people in 2015–16, 210 in 2016–18, 510 in 2020–21 and 210 in 2023–25. Located in Dindigul from 2020–21, when the reports first name the place | Ongoing |
| Old Age Home, Dindigul | 2020–2025 | Key activity | Health check-ups, medication support, access to doctors, nutritious meals and companionship — 89 elders in 2020–21 and 69 in 2023–25 | Ongoing |
Impact
What health support & rehabilitation changes
De-addiction support
A de-addiction home at Tharagampatti where 57 young people stayed for treatment and counselling in 2022–23, continuing work that began with 25 patients at the Mylampatti centre in 2008–09.
Care for people living with HIV/AIDS
A ten-bed home with its own laboratory and kitchen, opened in November 2007 for members and known contacts of the women’s Self-Help Groups the trust works with. The trust’s earlier website recorded 104 PLHA and 37 children infected or affected by HIV treated at its health centre; neither figure appears in an annual report.
Families, not just patients
57 family members were counselled on health and family issues at the Mylampatti centre in 2008–09 — treatment extended to the household around the person receiving it.
Get involved
Support health & rehabilitation
Help us keep the beds open. Your support pays for shelter, food, medical care and counselling for homeless people, elders with no family and young people trying to come off drugs.