Another Safe House project!
We are happy to be commencing another Safe House project with our partner organization, CLN.
The CLN newsletter below gives an introduction to this project. More will follow as the project develops!
| Women’s Safe House Expansion – Udayapur |
It also has an unfinished second floor due to lack of funds and a mildew problem caused by insufficient roofing.
The success of our Women’s Safe House has led us to a wonderful new opportunity extending our work and helping a safe house in Udayapur, in the densely populated Terai region of Nepal.
As we established the Women’s Safe House in remote Sankhuwasabha, we adopted a case management and tracking system that came from the Udayapur safe house. We had sent our safe house manager there for training in how files are kept, information is recorded, and women are tracked over time. In the process, the two safe houses formed an ongoing relationship. Now the Women’s Safe House in Udayapur (WSHU) has asked for CLN’s help in completing their second floor and in replicating our Safe House’s sustainable funding model with the local community.
WSHU was originally funded by a nonprofit, but as funding declined across several years, the local municipality had to step in and take over. However, the municipality does not have sufficient funds for needed repairs, for second floor expansion, or for full salaries for the five full-time staff.
Seeing the demonstrated success in Sankhuwasabha, the WSHU staff have already started discussions with their district to adopt the same funding model. Beginning in 2026, we will be partnering with the WSHU staff and the municipal government to facilitate a policy level agreement where each pallika (county) in the district contributes to the WSHU budget to ensure sufficient long-term funding and salaried government positions for each of the staff. We also plan to collaborate once again with our amazing construction partner, Another Brick in Nepal (ABIN), to help cover the gap in construction funds and complete a second floor with much-needed additional space, along with repairs to the existing first floor and grounds.
WSHU shelters over 100 women and children annually, provides skills training, and does educational community outreach. Its location in a district close to India means that they also receive many more women who have been rescued from sex trafficking. They have a very active, all-woman staff and a real need for the second floor which will provide 3 extra bedrooms, a children’s play area, a skills training room, a much-needed second toilet in the building, and a roof extension to protect the building from mold and mildew damage.
Over the course of 2 years, we plan to complete the second floor construction project and also facilitate a local government agreement for the WSHU to be self-sustaining and on solid ground in future years.
We currently estimate this project will cost $45,000 across 2 years. Please join us in helping to support these women and children through some of the most difficult times of their lives.