Breaking the cycle of generational poverty in India begins with radical dignity and belonging.
Our mission is to reach every village in India with compassion and care that meets real, tangible needs and creates community.
Our grassroots-led strategy empowers local community leaders to not only meet immediate needs but also foster dignity in the lives of the unseen and forgotten.
Dignity changes everything
Opportunity
With dignity comes confidence. When a child or adult knows they matter, they begin to believe that a thriving future is possible. Through education, we honor people and empower them with the skills they need to reach beyond poverty.
Health
73% of people in India don’t have access to basic medical facilities. We meet both everyday and urgent medical needs, so those living in poverty know they are seen, heard, and valued. This impacts not only a person’s physical health—but also their whole well-being.
Community
In many remote villages, the poor feel isolated and alone trying to survive. But one person’s dignity has a cumulative effect on a community, rallying neighbors to overcome obstacles and break out of poverty together.
Celebration
Where dignity is restored, people recover their sense of joy. They gather to celebrate successes and milestones—singing at weddings, offering thanks at harvests, praising new births, and honoring loved ones who’ve passed.
Our strategy
We serve in villages where no other organizations are working, often offering 24/7 crisis care and support.
Together with global partners like you, we strengthen grassroots community leaders who are uniquely positioned to meet immediate needs, offer compassion that creates belonging, and embrace the poor as family.
Our goal? To carry compassion to every village in India—so that each person we serve knows they matter and experiences a deeper sense of belonging in the world.
He ignored them at first. But as they got worse, he realized with horror that he had Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy.
Instantly he became an “untouchable” outcast.
His wife left him, and he ended up living on the streets, struggling to survive.
At first, Nitesh tried to get medical treatment for leprosy, which is 100% curable. But as someone considered unclean, he couldn’t take public transportation. Like so many poor people, this proved to be his biggest barrier to getting care.
His skin became increasingly scarred and cracked. Sometimes he had open sores. Every day, people spit at his feet.
When Nitesh tried to buy food with the money he made while begging, shopkeepers often refused to sell to him. Most nights, he fell asleep hungry. Every morning, he woke up feeling more convinced that the world wished he didn’t exist.
He’d been living on the streets for more than 20 years when Covid hit. As an immunocompromised outcast with chronic open wounds, he knew the virus would be the end of him if he didn’t get help.
Somehow, Nitesh managed to navigate a citywide lockdown, traveling a long distance on foot to show up at a leper colony served by Harvest India.
And for the first time in decades, Nitesh found open arms welcoming him in.
A few residents immediately brought him food. Some Harvest India nurses soon showed up to treat his wounds and dress them in clean gauze.
A Harvest India team member named Satyam brought Nitesh a clean blanket.
“Let me show you where you can sleep until we find a more permanent place for you to stay,” Satyam said to Nitesh.
Nitesh fell asleep that night with a full stomach and a happy heart. He was surrounded by a community of kindness that showed him dignity and compassion instead of contempt.
Now Nitesh wakes up each morning with the peace of knowing he’s embraced in love and dignity.