---
title: Elderly receive livelihood support across 16 states
description: This is the meta description of my blog post.
image: https://hubspot-developers-ch6e4r-19973982.hs-sites.com/hubfs/unsplash_rbz1hVh7_LM.jpg
---

![](https://hubspot-developers-ch6e4r-19973982.hs-sites.com/hubfs/unsplash_rbz1hVh7_LM.jpg)

# Elderly receive livelihood support across 16 states

By: [ Makewebbetter, ](https://hubspot-developers-ch6e4r-19973982.hs-sites.com/en/blog/author/makewebbetter)  Feb 4, 2022 4:40:02 AM

[Charity](https://hubspot-developers-ch6e4r-19973982.hs-sites.com/en/blog/tag/charity)

WHEN Neelam Jolly, a post-graduate in biophysics, changed track and trained to become a therapist, she was exposed to the needs and problems of children with disabilities from close quarters. This pushed her to dream of an organisation that would work for special needs children – where they are made to feel an integral part of mainstream society through inclusivity.

> *GiveIndia: Did you have an epiphany or a moment of revelation that led you to start VISHWAS? Tell us about the journey.*

In 2005, Neelam took the big leap of faith and set up VISHWAS in a small building in Saanp Ki Nangli village in the Gurugram district of Haryana. Soon, they turned a vandalised and abandoned building into a fully functioning school and resource centre for children of migrant communities and the marginalised – with 17% of the students in the school being children with disabilities.

Neelam Jolly: It all started with an advertisement in the newspaper way back in 1988 from Action for Ability Development and Inclusion (then the Spastic Society of India) which was planning to start a one-year course in Basic Development Therapy. At the time, I was looking for a change in my field from biophysics to something more manageable and equally satisfying.I was looking for a change in my field from biophysics to something more manageable and equally satisfying.I was looking for a change in my field from biophysics to something more manageable and equally satisfying.I manageable and equally satisfying.

I was called for an interview and asked to spend one week with the children there to see if I could cope – it was my first exposure to disability. I was very upset for the first two to three days, seeing some of the very high need children who were not able to eat, swallow or sit properly. But then I also noticed they were smiling, playing, and exchanging notes on cricket in their own sign language. So I finished my one-year course with a lot of hands-on training, worked there for a couple of years and that brought me the confidence to later venture out on my own.

I was called for an interview and asked to spend one week with the children there to see if I could cope – it was my first exposure to disability. I was very upset for the first two to three days, seeing some of the very high need children who were not able to eat, swallow or sit properly. But then I also noticed they were smiling, playing, and exchanging notes on cricket in their own sign language. So I finished my one-year course with a lot of hands-on training, worked there for a couple of years and that brought me the confidence to later venture out on my own.

### Similar Blog Posts

[![](https://hubspot-developers-ch6e4r-19973982.hs-sites.com/hs-fs/hubfs/unsplash_HkbeLxOJlqk.jpg?width=352&name=unsplash_HkbeLxOJlqk.jpg) ](https://hubspot-developers-ch6e4r-19973982.hs-sites.com/en/blog/giveindia-survey-health-and-hunger-are-citizens-top-concerns?hsLang=en)

##### [GiveIndia survey: Health and hunger are citizens’ top concerns](https://hubspot-developers-ch6e4r-19973982.hs-sites.com/en/blog/giveindia-survey-health-and-hunger-are-citizens-top-concerns?hsLang=en)

[![](https://hubspot-developers-ch6e4r-19973982.hs-sites.com/hs-fs/hubfs/unsplash_f8ld5zt3a3k.jpg?width=352&name=unsplash_f8ld5zt3a3k.jpg) ](https://hubspot-developers-ch6e4r-19973982.hs-sites.com/en/blog/swami-vivekananda-inspires-the-youth-to-give-and-serve?hsLang=en)

##### [Swami Vivekananda inspires the youth to give and serve](https://hubspot-developers-ch6e4r-19973982.hs-sites.com/en/blog/swami-vivekananda-inspires-the-youth-to-give-and-serve?hsLang=en)

[![](https://hubspot-developers-ch6e4r-19973982.hs-sites.com/hs-fs/hubfs/unsplash_AEaTUnvneik.jpg?width=352&name=unsplash_AEaTUnvneik.jpg) ](https://hubspot-developers-ch6e4r-19973982.hs-sites.com/en/blog/children-with-disabilities-should-study-in-regular-schools?hsLang=en)

##### [Children with disabilities should study in regular schools](https://hubspot-developers-ch6e4r-19973982.hs-sites.com/en/blog/children-with-disabilities-should-study-in-regular-schools?hsLang=en)