Homes for the Abandoned

“First of all we want to make them feel that they are wanted, we want them to know that there are people who really love them, who really want them, at least for the few hours that they have to live, to know human and divine love. That they too may know that they are the children of God, and that they are not forgotten and they are loved and cared about…”. – Mother Teresa

Shishu Bhavan - Homes for the Children

“Let the little ones of the streets cling to her because she reminds them of Him [God], the Friend of the little ones.” – Mother Teresa

We take temporarily care of children who are abandoned, physically and mentally challenged, suffering from malnutrition or other diseases. In India alone we have 61 children’s homes. In our Homes for physically and mentally challenged children we accept children with the approval of CWC (Child Welfare Committee).

Nirmal Hriday - Home of Dying & Destitute

“I lived like an animal on the street, I die like an angel, loved and cared for.” – Kalighat patient to Mother Teresa

In the early 1950, as she was serving the poor in the streets of Calcutta, Mother Teresa came across many dying destitute. She would take them to the local hospitals but was often refused admission because her patients were in conditions “beyond medical help” and the hospital had too few beds to accommodate even the patients with better chances of survival. After years of desperate searching, in 1952 Mother Teresa opened the first “Nirmal Hriday” – a home for homeless sick and dying destitute, in the Kalighat area of Kolkata. Mother Teresa wanted all those dying in the streets, those ‘unwanted’ by the hospitals or by their own families, to be given a chance to recover or to die with dignity, loved and cared for by the Sisters. Today in India, we have 180 Homes caring for the poorest of the poor, that is, abandoned, dying destitutes and physically and mentally challenged adult men and women

Hansen's Disease (Leprosy Centres)

“I would like to give them (patients suffering from Hansen’s disease) better homes – uplift them … make them know that they too are the loved children of God and so give them something to live for. … I want slowly to build like a little town of their own where our lepers could live normal lives.” – Mother Teresa

In India we have ten large homes for patients suffering from Hansen’s disease. In our effort to provide for them the necessary medical care (including surgeries) and means of rehabilitation (work), we also make them feel loved and wanted, so that they gain confidence, human dignity and assume their role in society. These centers are organized as “small villages” or “colonies” where each patient who has a family is given a small house, a small plot of land to grow their vegetables, and a possibility to work on handlooms. In one of the centers, the patients make the blue-bordered saries that are worn by the Sisters; they are paid for their work so that they can support their own families.

We also have Indoor and Mobile Primary Healthcare Facilities for treating patients suffering from Hansen’s disease.