Apna Ghar

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Apna Ghar is a domestic violence shelter. The idea of establishing a transitional shelter and walk-in social service agency was first conceived in September 1989 by five Asian-American women activists who were committed to serving the South Asian immigrant women and children facing domestic violence and abuse in the Greater Chicago Area.

The initiative was undertaken in response to hotline calls reporting a high incidence of domestic violence, abandonment, child abuse and neglect, sexual and criminal assault among the South-Asian-American ethnic minority communities settled in Metropolitan Chicago. It was also evident that due to cultural differences such as language, dress, food, religion, family structures and values, the Asian-American women and families were reluctant to avail themselves of the services offered by mainstream existing shelters and other organizations. Women and children were suffering violence and abuse rather than seeking help.

Existing shelters and service providers, not familiar with the South-Asian culture, family system and immigration laws, needed a South-Asian social service agency to provide translations, counseling, legal services and other support.

Apna Ghar, the first United States transitional shelter and social agency serving Asian victims of domestic violence, was incorporated in December 1989. It was originally founded to meet the expressed need for appropriate cultural social services for women and children victims of domestic violence who came from the Asian Subcontinent countries of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Today, all services are free and open to families irrespective of ethnic origins, socio-economic status, and racial identity.

In 1991, Apna Ghar's services were expanded to include the Child Visitation Center, which was established to provide visitation of children by non-custodial parents who are court mandated not to see their children except under supervision.

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Pakistan to allocate 7 percent GDP for education by 2015 Xinhua News Agency; 9/9/2009 ...press conference, Education Minister Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani said the government has decided to launch a project called "Apna Ghar" residential schools to provide free education to poor students. "At present we have set up such schools in every provincial... ...more

Noble goals but will they last? The Nation (Karachi, Pakistan); 9/9/2009 ...be raised from existing 4.7 per cent to 10 per cent by 2015 and 15 per cent by 2020. The government shall establish Apna Ghar residential schools in each province to provide free high quality education facilities to poor students, he added. All... ...more

Worlds Children AP Images; 11/19/2009 ...New Delhi, India. Kumar, who ran away from his abusive grand parents and worked in a textile factory before coming to Apna Ghar, a children shelter for boys for street children. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) ...more