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As founders of Shadhika, we believe firmly in those original tenets of gender empowerment.
An Invitation to FundHER
July 8, 2020
Reading Time: 3 minutesShadhika’s mission is grounded in my wife Juthica’s original desire to remedy the plight of disenfranchised women in the Non-Criminal Lunatic wing of Calcutta’s prisons. Equipped with her Master’s Degree in Social Work, Juthica’s first job was with the YWCA in Calcutta and one of Juthica’s assignments was to visit women in local prisons, as part of the organization’s literacy program. To her enormous shock, she found dozens of women who were detained with no criminal record, but because they had become undesirable to their families after a dowry dispute, sexual assault, or the inability to deliver a son.
Years later, after Juthica and I married and we settled in California, the memory of these women still imprinted on Juthica’s mind, she decided to partner with a young lawyer, Shibshankar, to free those innocent women from Calcutta’s prisons. Shibshankar would represent the women’s legal cases and Juthica would create a halfway house and life skills training center to rehabilitate them. Shadhika was born.
From our first fundraiser in our backyard, the organization has grown to become a sophisticated 501(c)3 organization who has made $1.4 million in grants to promote gender equality in 7 states in India. While Shadhika has shifted from providing direct services to building sustainable grassroots capacity and leadership through local partnership, the mission remains the same: empowering girls and women in India to be in full control of their lives and fulfill their highest potential.
Over the years, Juthica and I have had the opportunity to see for ourselves the results of our original investment whenever we traveled to India. With Shadhika’s support, these young women are challenging traditional gender norms and are able to stave off marriage to pursue high education degrees. They are protagonists in their own destiny.
As founders of Shadhika, we believe firmly in those original tenets of gender empowerment. We welcome My’s leadership at the helm of the organization and are committed to remain monthly donors to support her vision. I invite you to consider becoming a member of Shadhika’s FundHER monthly donor circle and make a lasting commitment to advance gender equality in India.
Thank you for your financial support to Shadhika.
Sincerely,
Peter Stangl
Shadhika’s Co-Founder
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