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Mission :
The mission of the SEVA (Society Enrichment through Volunteer Activities) Committee of the Temple is to serve as a first contact to coordinate the help in family situations for the Temple members and non-members. By referring to the area professional agencies, the committee pledges to assist in providing to the extent possible, confidential referral services for family situations, basic health care referral for the uninsured families, offer prayers for patients, bereavement support for the loss of loved ones, hold awareness seminars and actively support Community wide projects.
SEVA Activities (five areas)
- Referral service for Basic Health Care for Unemployed / Uninsured
- Active Community Service
- Support Families in Difficult Situations (Family Internal Issues)
- Arrange Awareness Sessions and Seminars
- Visitation and Offering Prayers
- Referral service for Basic Health Care for Unemployed/Uninsured:
- Handled 103 cases, so far this year
- At present, SEVA Committee has a network pool of (40) medical professionals to offer services on volunteer basis, (2) medical labs and (1) free clinic. The model is as follows:
- Medical professionals with independently owned clinics have offered to see two (2) patients per month.
- Participating medical labs provide the test services at cost to cost
- Patient screening criteria has been developed by SEVA
- Patient has to sign a waiver form to ward off any liability issues
Team Members:Lalit Sethi and Suren Sukhankar
An appeal to all:Please contact your Physician friends to participate in the noble cause.
- Active Community Service:
SEVA aims to provide service to community at large. Based on available resources, this subcommittee provides on-going services to the Indian and non-Indian local communities including charitable organizations. Few examples are:
- Conducted Canned Food & Winter Clothing drives:(e.g., February, 09 “Sikhcess Detroit” - Worldwide Feed the Homeless and Bundles of Warmth Clothing Campaign, the drive initiated by Sikh Gurudwara
- Supported Clothes drive for flood relief in AP (India)
- Raised funds for 'Disaster Relief' (e. g., Myanmar and China)
- Supported Red Cross Blood drives (Conducted successful drive at the Temple in Jan and Aug, 09)
- Support monthly Soup Kitchen project at the Grace Center for Hope in Pontiac, MI
- Conducted Bone Marrow Drive in April, 09
Team Members:Ramanath Vutukuru, Bindu Suresh, Latha Rangarajan
- Support families in difficult situations (Internal Family Issues including Domestic Violence):
SEVA committee members with appropriate qualifications and training provide non-advisory and objective support to families who are going through challenging and emotionally draining situations due to family internal communication and/or behavioral issues (including domestic abuse).
- All calls and person to person conversations are kept confidential.
- Help is provided by referrals to local professional agencies dealing with specific issues (5-cases handled so far).
The SEVA committee provides a non-judgmental, safe and supportive ear to the person with an issue and the case is referred to the appropriate outside agency. Neither SEVA Committee and nor its volunteers are engaged in providing any professional counseling and/or advice to people reaching out to the SEVA committee for help. SEVA only acts in the capacity of referring people needing help to appropriate outside agencies. We plan to expand the scope of this service in future.
Team Members:Raji Natesh and Madan Kaura
- Arrange Awareness Sessions and Seminars:
This sub-committee arranges seminars and workshops sessions at the Bharatiya Temple to raise community awareness about various social, cultural, financial and family issues. The objective is to provide information for general well being of the community and make a serious attempt to bridge the inter-generation gap between children & parents who being raised in different cultural backgrounds. This will foster a sense of confidence, improve self esteem and improve communication within the Indian families and the community at large.
Session completed:
A 6 weeks long PATH - Workshop on Self management of Pain and Chronic Disease presented by Meera Vijan and Nancy Bhatt
Team Members:Bindu Suresh and Madan Kaura
- Visitation and Offering Prayers:
- Offer prayers, recite verses from the scriptures at the hospital or at home for speedy recovery of a patient.
- Provide family support and relief at the time of grief, bereavement, logistical and advisory support in case of death in the family. A tri-fold is available at the Temple Website (under Outreach Committee) containing the basic information about the last Hindu rites and the facilities available in the area.
Team Member: Madan Kaura
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(Last updated: Dec 9, 09)
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