Chitra Venkateswaran

Mehac Foundation

Mehac Foundation (Mental Health Care & Research Foundation) is a Kochi-based not-for-profit founded in 2008 by psychiatrist Dr Chitra Venkateswaran. Growing out of North Kerala's community palliative care movement, it delivers free, long-term psychosocial care for people with chronic mental illness through community-run clinics, home visits and trained local volunteers, with projects spanning coastal Alappuzha, flood-affected villages and children with learning disabilities.

Mehac Foundation reports the following, on its own site:

• Mental health care provided to over 3,000 beneficiaries across 6 districts in Kerala
• 98 percent of beneficiaries come from low-income families