Swades Foundation

Swades Foundation Swades Foundation is a community-driven,grass-roots non-profit working on holistic rural development. Our strategy is to Engage, Empower, Execute and Exit.
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The Swades Foundation which began as SHARE (Society to Heal Aid Restore Educate) continued to progress in small steps; from starting a sheltered workshop for the mentally challenged in the Dharavi and Chembur areas of Mumbai to a more focused approach to impact the lives of people in rural Maharashtra. To engage rural communities with corporates, urban youth, NGOs and governments and empower them

to co-execute programs that transform their lives which enable our exit, creating role models and change agents for the rest of the country. Our USP is a 360° intervention inside-out model of development, with a multiplier effect. Our holistic approach covers all aspects of individual and community development through 4 key verticals – Health & Nutrition, Education, Water & Sanitation and Economic Development. Our strength is our 1350+ strong team comprising 1000+ community volunteers and ~350 full-time staff; 90% FTE work at the grassroots, making us a strong implementation foundation. We have reached out to all of 2,000 villages in our current geography (6 blocks of Raigad dist., Maharashtra: Mahad, Mangaon, Mhsala, Poladpur, Shrivardhan and Tala) impacting over 471,000 people.

14/05/2026

A Journey of Change in Borichibari, Nashik | Swades Foundation

Those of us in the development sector have heard it all. The well-meaning assumptions. The casual dismissals. The commen...
09/05/2026

Those of us in the development sector have heard it all. The well-meaning assumptions. The casual dismissals. The comments that make you smile before politely clarifying a stance.

So here's setting the record straight - on the myths that surface often, and what's actually true.

If you have a question about the space that you'd like us to answer, let us know!

18/03/2026

Donate now. Be the reason a community doesn’t have to walk miles for a basic need | Swades Foundation

27/02/2026

Sometimes progress means going back — and growing forward. To more youth finding purpose in their homelands

14/02/2026

Celebrating love that lasts…..❤️
😍

06/01/2026

From training to craftsmanship, brick by brick. Punaji Korde is one of 10,000+ rural workers who upgraded skills, livelihoods, and incomes through Swades’ structured skilling. Investing in skills unlocks India’s demographic dividend and builds resilient rural families.

A patchwork of fields, a quiet pool holding rainwater where it matters most. In the middle of farmland that once waited ...
03/01/2026

A patchwork of fields, a quiet pool holding rainwater where it matters most. In the middle of farmland that once waited anxiously for the monsoon, water now stays.

For small and marginal farmers, access to water is the difference between survival and stability. Without it, farming is limited to a single crop, incomes are fragile, and families are forced to migrate seasonally in search of work. With water, the land breathes differently. Planning replaces uncertainty. Hope replaces risk.

Farm ponds are among the most effective ways to make this shift possible. By capturing rainwater at the source, they turn a few weeks of rainfall into a year-round resource. Cropping cycles expand, soil health improves, and farms become resilient to erratic weather patterns. What looks like a small intervention on land becomes a transformational one for livelihoods.

At Swades Foundation, farm ponds are designed to benefit not just one farmer, but entire micro-ecosystems. What begins as a farm pond becomes a shared water security asset for the entire village.

So far, 87+ farm ponds have been created, supporting 250+ families (approx 1,200 lives). With assured water access, year-round farming is now possible, allowing farmers to grow two crops instead of being restricted to paddy alone. In several locations, seasonal migration has dropped to zero. Families no longer have to leave their villages for work, and children remain in school, uninterrupted.

These farm ponds are part of Swades Foundation’s larger, community-led water stewardship efforts - set to expand their impact even further this year.

25/12/2025

For 65 community members from 3 Gram Panchayats in Palghar, this journey to Gaidhond was not a visit; it was a beginning. Travelling at their own expense, they chose to step out of their villages to see what sustained, community-led change can truly look like on the ground.

Gaidhond, Swades Foundation’s Dream Village in Nashik, stands as a lighthouse- showing what is possible when people come together to lead their own development. For these villagers, witnessing real outcomes across livelihoods, water, sanitation, education, health and collective ownership helped turn aspiration into belief.

This exposure marks the first step in their own journey of change.

Because lasting change does not begin with funding or infrastructure alone. It begins when communities choose to believe, to commit, and to take the first step - together.

This Christmas, let hope and compassion light the way. 🎄✨ Merry Christmas from Swades Foundation.
25/12/2025

This Christmas, let hope and compassion light the way. 🎄✨ Merry Christmas from Swades Foundation.

23/12/2025

Every harvest is a story of hope, effort and pure labour. This Kisan Diwas, we stand with farmers who are building resilient livelihoods and thriving rural economies.

Address

Unit 401, Ceejay House, Drive Annie Besant Road, Worli, Mumbai/
Mumbai
400018

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+912261093730

Website

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