We are thrilled to be able to share some really exciting news; TARA will be opening its doors to TARA Girls on August 1st, the first girls moving in on August 15th! We couldn’t wait to share this with everyone involved with TARA HOMES and, of course, specifically with those who helped raise funds for the Girls Shelter.
It has been a long road to get to this point, which makes it all sweeter.  This project has taken some time to get off the ground as there were some big decisions to be made revolving around whether to rent, buy or build a shelter.  Last year, TARA received a rather significant corporate $100k grant from Alstom to put towards building a shelter.  TARA was then faced with the daunting task of raising funds for the land and planning for a large construction project.  After almost a year of careful deliberation, they decided to keep things simple and to rent the space instead (we were silently relieved).  They convinced Alstom’s to reappropriate their donation to cover the rent expenses for TARA Girls for the first 5 years. This is a huge sum covered and helps out a great deal in these early years of launch.
Two months ago the Founder of TARA Homes, Pascal Fautrat, reached out to us to let us know they had found a lovely apartment in the very safe area of in South Delhi not far away from the other two homes (Tots and Boys). We were in the process of crafting an email to let all donors know this good news when Pascal emailed to say that the residents of the building had put up notices all over–refusing to allow an NGO shelter in their apartment complex.  There was a clear discrimination against underprivileged children.  Even though TARA had a signed lease agreement and could have moved in, they did not want to be in a place where the girls were clearly not welcomed. Despite this disappointment and worry that they would encounter the same challenge again, they continued their search.  
Finally, we received a happy email last week that they signed the lease on the perfect place!  It is not an apartment but instead an independent house located in a very safe and quiet residential area only 10 minutes drive from both Tara Boys and Tara Tots. There is a park in front of the house and a limited number of vehicles come there because the road is a dead-end.  The house is composed of two similar floors and a huge roof top.

Application of TARA Girls Donations

GoPhilanthropic’s initial grant of $14,000  will fund the complete outfitting of the shelter.  This will include tables, beds, cupboards, appliances, educational supplies, books and computers. It will also include all of the necessary carpentry, painting and masonry needed.  Any funds raised before September will be directed towards outfitting as well.  Here are some pictures.  It may seem a little empty but will soon be filled with the sounds of busy girls building beautiful lives.

 

 
At full capacity, Tara Girls will care for 20 girls over 6 years of age– all growing girls from Tara Tots.  They will also try to admit girl siblings of existing Tara children. Girls will stay at Tara Home for Girls until they reach eighteen years. All of them will be mainstreamed in reputed schools of Delhi and will follow sport and art classes inside the Home.
It is going to be a very, very special moment for TARA and for GoPhil when this all comes together. We will be keeping you posted as we progress through the next stages. GoPhilanthropic will be visiting in September so we will have more to share later in the fall.  Our next big fundraising push will be to raise 10k needed for a small van to transport them to school and activities.  Please let us know if you are able to join us in these efforts.  If you would like to help, click here.
We hope you are as excited as we all are about the Home becoming a reality.  Thank you for all of your collective efforts and support for this magnificent program!