| Founded | 1993 |
|---|---|
| Founders | Vandana Gopikumar and Vaishnavi Jayakumar |
| Type | Nonprofit Organization |
| Location |
|
Area served | Mental Health, Homelessness, Poverty, Inclusive Living Options |
| Services | Mental Health Care |
| Vandana Gopikumar
Managing Trustee Vaishnavi Jayakumar Founder Trustee Mr. Sankara Narayanan Chairperson Mr. Balraj Vasudevan Treasurer Mr. Senthil Kumar Trustee Ms. Sujatha Paulose Trustee Mr. Amarnath Reddy Trustee Mr. K. C. Mohan Trustee Mr. P. S. Raman Trustee Mr. Pradeep Cholayil Trustee Ms. Arathi Krishna Trustee Mr. N.K.Ranganath Trustee Mr. Vijay Anand Trustee | |
| Website | https://thebanyan.org |
The Banyan is a non-governmental organization based in Chennai, India that was founded in 1993 by Vandana Gopikumar and Vaishnavi Jayakumar to cater to mentally-ill and homeless women in the city.
This includes the Emergency Care and Recovery Center offered in hospital-based settings, the Center for Mental Health and Inclusive Development promoting the Home Again model and the Center for Social Needs and Livelihood.[1]
The Banyan's NALAM programme offers well-being oriented outpatient clinics and community based mental health care in both urban and rural areas. These clinics provide free of charge and mental health and social care services, address distress, common mental disorders and severe mental disorders. They are offered across 15 service access points, reaching out to a population of approximately 7 lakhs. NALAM has reached out to over 10,000 individuals and has a current active registry of 2000 individuals.
For those who experience high support needs, The Banyan offers a range of inclusive living options, over 200 individuals with moderate to severe mental health issues, today live in communities & homelike environments with supportive services across 6 districts in 3 States (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra).
The Banyan's sister organisation was founded in 2007. BALM uses capacity building, education programmes (diploma, masters’, and PhD programmes) in collaboration with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, research, collaborative work (with civil society organisations, local governments, disability movements, mental health user-caregiver groups, and Central and State Government) and construction of think tanks, as strategies to influence progressive policies and plans.