Deva Kirubai Social Help Association (DKSHA) is a non-governmental organization based in Tamil Nadu State, India. Between 2004 and May 2023, we ran an orphanage, (Child Care Institution), providing shelter for 84 children, including boys and girls who were orphans, semi-orphans, and economically disadvantaged.
Since 2017, we have come to understand the importance of family care and the need for a range of options. We learned that a child’s well-being and development are best supported within families verses living in an orphanage or under institutional care. In fact, children raised in biological, foster, kinship, and adoptive families demonstrate better physical, intellectual, and developmental outcomes.

With orientation provided by our partner funding agency, Miracle Foundation, the DKSHA team prepared the staff, board members, parents/legal guardians of children, and all children themselves. We also provided orientation to the Childcare Officials of the Government. Subsequently, DKSHA began the process of reintegrating children into their own families, one by one.

As of now, no child is residing in our Cornerstone Orphanage/Childcare Institution; they are all safely living with their own families. DKSHA conducts regular visits, both in person and through phone calls, to provide follow-up support and assistance in five wellbeing domains:

• PSS (Psycho-Social Support/Family & Social Relationships)
• Education
• Household Economy
• Living Conditions
• Health (Physical and Mental)
We also collaborate with local communities to develop sustainable and enduring economic changes aimed at empowering marginalized individuals, particularly women, and advancing the livelihoods of marginal farmers in rural village communities.

DKSHA