WHO WE ARE
Access Life Assistance Foundation, an Indian not-for-profit organisation registered as a section 8 company provides multi-disciplinary supportive care to families who come to various hospitals for their child’s cancer treatment.
It provides a loving and temporary home for children undergoing treatment for cancer along with their parents or caretakers. Access Life set up its first center in June 2014 in Chembur and has grown to 9 childhood cancer care centres across Mumbai, Pune, Manipal, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, & now in Coimbatore. Through our 9 centers we have offered a holistic support to more than 2400 underprivileged children with cancer, and their families.
WHO
WE ARE
Access Life Assistance Foundation, an Indian not-for-profit organisation registered as a section 8 company provides multi-disciplinary supportive care to families who come to various hospitals for their child’s cancer treatment.
It provides a loving and temporary home for children undergoing treatment for cancer along with their parents or caretakers. Access Life set up its first center in June 2014 in Chembur and has grown to 7 childhood cancer care centres across Mumbai, Pune, Manipal & now in Chandigarh. Through our 7 centers we have offered a holistic support to more than 1266underprivileged children with cancer, and their families.
Families come from remote towns and cities across India seeking treatment for their children affected with cancer. While hospitals extend them quality medical services, the poorer families have no place to stay during the 5-12 months (sometimes extending to 24 months) that it takes to complete the treatment. Many end up living on footpaths or are forced to abandon treatment.
Along with a home-like environment for these families, we also address the psychological and social effects of cancer by providing practical support services, nutritional support, educational resources, safe transport to hospitals, and recreational programs.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
Our philosophy stems from our core value, that high quality and holistic healthcare facilities should be available for all, regardless of their economic status.
OUR VISION
To create an environment where children have access to quality health care and holistic support and which allows families to face the weight of illness together.
OUR MISSION
To provide all the children from the age 0-14 years coming to big cities for treatment of cancer, a clean, safe, comfortable, caring and cost-free accommodation, wherein their families are able to better comfort and support them, while actively participating in their care.
CHAIRMAN’S NOTE
GIRISH NAIR
When we started Access Life, ten years ago, we envisioned that every needy child who comes to Mumbai to undergo treatment for cancer, would have an access to a clean, safe, comfortable, caring, and a cost-free accommodation – a home away from home for both the child and their family. In such a nurturing environment, these little ones would have another opportunity to experience childhood, the way they ought to.
Keeping this in mind, we developed a model at one location, the successful framework of which could then be replicated elsewhere. Thus, we set up the first Access Life Centre for Childhood Cancer Care at Chembur, in Mumbai, Maharashtra, in June 2014. The donation of a mini-van by a generous contributor has ensured a stress-free transport to and from hospitals for our children.
Along with meeting their physical needs, we also addressed the psychological and social effects of cancer.
Counseling, yoga, music, recreational, educational and nutritional supplementation programs, have helped in giving the parents and children, the holistic support they need to tackle this challenging disease. As we grew over the years, we added four more centres for accommodating the children and their families and have received four vehicles that help us provide transportation for the children at our centres. At present we have 8 centres – our Access Life Centres are in Mumbai, Pune, Manipal, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad now in Coimbatore taking our basic capacity to 153 accommodation units that serve the needs of 459 individuals. Our centres are operating at full capacity and we are looking forward to opening more. Our 9 centres are operating at full capacity and we are looking forward to opening more. The driving force(s) behind all this are our volunteers; and our committed staff, who work selflessly.
We have also made a breakthrough by signing an MOU with TATA Hospital, where we offer nutritional counseling services to teens and young adults challenged with cancer. Our hygiene kit and personal hygiene awareness program are also being appreciated by Wadia, Sion and other hospitals.
In this journey of trying to spread happiness, we have also faced a major challenge in the form of people unwilling to let out their properties for housing young, poor cancer patients. Creating more awareness on cancer should hopefully motivate more people to open their hearts and homes to these children.
and so our Mission continues…….
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Girish Nair
Founder & Chairman
Girish comes with over 15 years of rich experience in Finance Management and has worked in various industries like Aviation, Public Relations and Travel. He has been associated with several organizations, including Ethiopian Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, Neucom Consulting (PR Firm), SGS Enterprises & Nexus Travel Solutions. He was awarded the Asia-Pacific Cancer Society’s Training Grant (APCASOT) for a training programme in Australia in 2016.
Ankeet Dave
Co-Founder & Executive Director
Ankeet has over a decade of experience in Public Relations and Communication management. He has worked for renowned PR Agencies, like Hanmer MS&L & Vaishnavi Communications and has serviced clients in the media & entertainment space as well as managed PR for celebrities.
Preethi Mutta
Director
Preethi holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work and comes with seven years of professional experience with organizations like the Family Planning Association of India, The Institute of Applied Dermatology and the Freedom Foundation. Her commitment towards the causes she has been working for namely, education of masses on HIV/Aids reflects in the remarkable role she has essayed in all her assignments.
ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
Karishma Parekh
Director Advisory Board
Karishma Parekh is Managing Partner at her family-owned cotton textile enterprise, Karishma Sarees and Suits, with offices in Mumbai and Rajkot. She attained her postgraduate degree in Direct Marketing at New York University and topped it with an Executive Family Business Management program from IIM, Bangalore.
She brings with her more than a decade of experience in building a homegrown daily wear cotton brand, with focus on marketing, brand communication, customer engagement and general management. She started her career with a CRM consulting firm in Mumbai and a short stint at a direct marketing agency in New York.
Kala Sundarvedha holds Master of Science in Mathematics, she is qualified with a Masters in Disability Studies from Australia. She comes with over two decades of working experience in social sector across different countries. She believes that every individual has a right to equal opportunities that would enable him/her to maximize their potential. Individuals with disabilities or disadvantages have to be provided the support to ensure a level playing field.
Kala Sundarvedha
Director Advisory Board
Neha Huddar
Director Advisory Board
Neha Huddar ia a Chartered Accountant by profession comes with 37 years of experience in the corporate world. She was the CFO of Thirumalai Chemicals Limited and later was Head of Finance of Reliance Foundation during the time CSR became mandatory. She is an independent director on the Boards of 2 listed companies and wants to utilize her experience to give back to society.
Nikunj Jhaveri founded Systems Plus in 1987. The company specializes in IT services such as Strategic IT Consulting, Business Process Re-engineering, Custom Software Development and ERP Implementation. For over 30 years, Nikunj has guided Systems Plus through its growth and is currently responsible for formulating business strategy and building / acquiring new business for the company. Systems Plus has clients in 40+ countries and is serviced by offices in India, US and UK.
As of today, the company / Nikunj distributes a good amount of its profits to various charities and to ensure that the money is being well spent. Nikunj is on the board or advisory board of some of them namely Pride India, VOICE, Access Life, Indian Women’s Football Association, Lion Tarachand Baba Hospital and We Can.
Nikunj Jhaveri
Director Advisory Board
Sanjiv Mehta
Director Advisory Board
Sanjiv Mehta is the CEO of the flagship company Shah Brothers Ispat Pvt. Ltd. With over 35 years of experience, Mr. Mehta has built relationships with leading domestic and international producers of steel and all major consumers in India, who now treat SBIPL as partners not suppliers.
A new generation leader, he plays a pivotal role in framing the vision of SBIPL and is responsible for transforming the company from a local niche player to an international trading organization in the steel industry today.
Sapan Choksi is CEO at Systems Plus and he has been entrusted with bringing about growth & stability to Systems Plus. He does this by building key client partnerships which are the foundation of Systems Plus’ success.
Having worked for multinational conglomerates such as PwC and J&J in the US, Sapan is well aware of the business nuances and key drivers of a global business; a skill that has helped Systems Plus grow over 500% in the last decade. Systems Plus has more than 800 employees in Asia, Europe, and the US.
Sapan Choksi
Director Advisory Board
Sneha Jaisingh
Director Advisory Board
Sneha Jaisingh is a Partner at Bharucha & Partners and has over 10 years of legal experience. She graduated from Government Law College, Mumbai and is also a Solicitor enrolled with the Bombay Incorporated Law Society. Her practice focuses on commercial litigation, international & domestic arbitration, governance, ethics, & anti-corruption, and regulatory & compliance. She has been recognised as a leading lawyer for Disputes in India.
An Honors graduate in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, Mr Mukhija joined Larsen & Toubro in 1965. As President (Operations) & Member of the L&T Board Mr Mukhija made significant contributions to the organization’s growth and profitability. He took LNT’s Electrical & Automation business to a leadership position in India despite the presence of global multinationals, spreading the culture of innovation and creation of intellectual wealth. Among Mr Mukhija’s other distinctions were leading the national electrical forum IEEMA and being conferred Distinguished Alumnus of IIT Kharagpur. After retiring from the L&T Board in October 2010, RNM continued with L&T till April 2014 as an Advisor to the Group Executive Chairman. In addition, he was also inducted to the Boards of Voltas and Tata AutoComp Systems Limited. Mr Mukhija continues to be on the Board of the L&T Employees Welfare Foundation Private Limited, the L&T Employees Trust as well as L&T Welfare Company Limited. He is also associated as a Board member with AngelXpress Foundation, an NGO focused on tutoring, mentoring and guiding first generation learners from underserved communities in Mumbai.
R.N.MUKHIJA
Director Advisory Board
Working With The Best
Our Partners
