HelpMate Foundation: Health, Education and Environment

Some of the most lasting work in a city happens through small, committed organisations that stay with a community year after year. HelpMate Foundation is one of them. Founded in Ahmedabad in 2009, the non governmental organisation works in three areas that shape everyday life: health, education and the environment. Kashyap Jani has been part of it from its early days and today leads it as President.

This post looks at what the foundation does, why those three areas matter, and how its work connects to his wider public life.

Rooted in Ahmedabad

HelpMate Foundation is based in Ahmedabad, in the Ghatlodiya area on the city's north western side. Being local matters. A neighbourhood organisation knows which families need support, which schools are struggling and which public spaces have been neglected. It can respond quickly and follow up, because its volunteers live in the same streets as the people they serve.

Kashyap Jani joined the foundation as a member in 2009, the same year it was founded, and grew with it. His years in social work, alongside his responsibilities in the BJP Yuva Morcha, taught him how volunteer organisations run and how much can be achieved when people commit their time to a shared cause. You can follow that path on his Political Journey page.

Health

Good health is the foundation of every other opportunity. For many families, the challenge is not only the cost of treatment but knowing where to go, which schemes they are entitled to and how to take the first step. Community health work helps close that gap: awareness drives, help with check ups, and guidance on accessing public healthcare and affordable medicines.

Preventive care matters just as much. Simple habits around nutrition, hygiene and regular check ups can spare families from illness and expense later. A local organisation that people already trust is often the best messenger for that advice.

Education

Education changes the course of a family's future. Supporting children to stay in school, helping students with learning materials, and encouraging young people towards skills and higher studies are among the most valuable things any community organisation can do. The effect is felt for a generation.

Education also connects closely to his priorities for young people, from grassroots sport to science and India's space programme. A child who is supported in school is a child who can dream bigger.

Environment

Ahmedabad's summers are getting hotter, and the city's growth puts pressure on green spaces, water and air. Environmental work at neighbourhood level, such as planting and caring for trees, cleanliness drives and encouraging residents to save water and reduce waste, makes streets cooler, healthier and more pleasant to live in.

These efforts work best when residents take part. A tree planted by a family is a tree that family will water. That sense of ownership is what turns a one day drive into a lasting change.

Why small organisations matter

Large programmes reach millions, but they work best when local organisations help them land. A neighbourhood NGO can explain a scheme in the local language, help an elderly resident fill in a form, or notice when a family has quietly slipped through the gaps. That last mile is where trust is built, and where public money turns into real change in someone's life.

Service as a way of life

For Kashyap Jani, the foundation is part of a single idea of public life: that service comes first. The same spirit ran through the COVID-19 relief work during the lockdown and runs through the initiatives on the ground today. Politics can open doors, but it is steady community work that keeps them open.

#WeWillDoIt

Get involved

Community organisations depend on volunteers and well wishers. If you would like to support HelpMate Foundation or take part in its work in Ahmedabad, you can find it on LinkedIn and Facebook, or reach Kashyap Jani's office through the contact page.