Saheli, Support and Friendship for South Asian Families received a grant from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation. The grant will launch a new, year-long collaboration between Harvard Pilgrim and Saheli Boston. This grant is part of Count Us In Community Partners. Two Greater Boston organizations received this grant: The Asian American Civic Association and Saheli Boston.

Sponsorships, grants and marketing and volunteer support from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care will help Saheli build and enhance services. In addition, Saheli will have the opportunity to participate in a mentoring program with Harvard Pilgrim’s senior leaders.  

Part of Harvard Pilgrim’s enterprise-wide Corporate Inclusion Initiative, Count Us In Community Partners is designed to help local nonprofits maximize their services and engage Harvard Pilgrim Health Care more directly with the region’s diverse communities.  The pilot effort coincides with the launch of Harvard Pilgrim’s Health Care’s Eastern Harmony, a new program integrating the health and wellness practices of eastern and western medicine with Harvard Pilgrim's popular benefit plans.

According to Eric Schultz, President and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Count Us In Community Partners is a natural extension of the company’s long-time focus on accessible, quality health care, wellness and inclusion.  “We welcome the chance to support these two vital organizations which provide essential services and are working to build strong, safe, and healthy communities.”

Saheli Boston is the only nonprofit organization specifically providing support services, training programs and recovery resources to South Asian women in the USA affected by domestic violence and abuse.  Established in 1996, Saheli Boston supports immigrant women from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Aghanistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives who are victims of domestic violence. Saheli has a helpline and provides counseling and referral services, home visits, shelter placements and emergency cash grants for women in need.  With satellite branches in New Hampshire and Shrewsbury, the organization aims to ensure that the short-term emergency needs of victims are met and empowers survivors by providing  support, resources and skills needed to build safe and healthy lives. In an effort to change social norms, Saheli also focuses on prevention of domestic violence by educating the South Asian community on the problem and motivates the community to be active participants in prevention efforts, instead of being mere bystanders.

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