From schools to toilets, Swarga Foundation is on a mission to make Coimbatore disabled friendly

Swarga Foundation, based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, has spearheaded many critical disabled friendly measures on the ground.

They are behind Sarathi, Coimbatore’s first wheelchair accessible transportation service, that offers safe and reliable travel for any person with mobility impairment to any location of choice within and outside Coimbatore city.

Perhaps most special among Swarga Foundation’s achievements is the work it is doing among Gen Next. It is working with six schools in the city with the goal of building an inclusive society.

“We work with disabled and able bodied kids who study in the same schools”, says Swarnalatha J, who is the co-founder of Swarga Foundation. “From putting able-bodied kids in wheelchairs to making them do activities blindfolded, the idea is to expose them to the perspective of people with disabilities”, she says. “These kids are going to be townplanners and architects in the future and it is important they see the world from the perspective of the disabled.”

In partnership with the Election Commission of Tamil Nadu, Swarga Foundation has also created awareness about 100% voting among the disabled through puppet shows.

Swarga shot into prominence with the launch of the 2017 edition of the I’m Special Calendar focusing on 12 people affected with neurological diseases who are achievers. “The idea was to show that there is another side to people with disabilities and that there is so much to celebrate about the human spirit”, says Swarnalatha.