St. Jude

While hospitals are able to provide therapy for serious diseases to the neediest of children in India through the generosity of numerous charities but many children and parents often have no place to stay during the treatment and have to “sleep rough” on the streets.

St. Jude aims to bridge this gap by helping children recover in a childcare center, while also helping families care for and educate their children and providing counselling for families undergoing this traumatic experience. The Childcare Centers provide a safe and clean environment for any needy child regardless of religion or community.

St. Jude currently has two Childcare Centers up and running. The first is at the Mhaskar Hospital in Mumbai, offering accomodation for up to eight children suffering from cancer, together with their immediate families. The second program, implemented in November 2007, is located at the Indian Cancer Society in Mumbai and has the capacity to care for 15 children and their parents. St. Jude is looking to expand its scope to include other serious diseases as well as opening a third center.

The St. Jude team comprises a well-rounded group of businesspeople and medical doctors from India and the UK. All of them are highly committed to providing long-term support to needy children with chronic diseases in India. All of the project team members are unpaid, but commit a substantial amount of their free time to the St. Jude Childcare Centers. McKinsey for Children has committed to funding renovation and ongoing rental costs for the third center, while helping expand the initiative.