Welcoming
@epicfoundation to Apnalaya | Mumbai Visit
On April 2nd, 2026, Apnalaya hosted the EPIC Foundation team for an on-ground visit to Kranti Nagar (P North) and Damu Nagar (R South) in Mumbai.
The visit offered a closer look at communities that have lived in the city for decades, yet remain excluded from formal systems. In both settlements, challenges such as lack of legal electricity and water access, inadequate sanitation, limited documentation, and insecure livelihoods continue to shape everyday realities.
At the same time, the visit highlighted the strength and resilience of communities—women managing informal livelihoods, families navigating high costs of basic services, and residents collectively organising to improve their living conditions.
Through interactions with community members and volunteers, we shared how Apnalaya’s work focuses on enabling access to citizenship—supporting documentation, linking families to entitlements, strengthening health systems, and building community leadership. The Civic Action Group model, in particular, demonstrates how collective voice can lead to tangible improvements in infrastructure, health, and service access.
Across both communities, efforts around documentation, health linkages, and women’s collectives are creating pathways for more secure and dignified lives—whether through access to social protection schemes, improved health outcomes, or safer livelihood opportunities.
The visit also created space for meaningful dialogue on scaling impact, strengthening systems, and addressing the structural nature of urban poverty—recognising that these challenges are not isolated, but representative of broader patterns across the city.
We are grateful for the opportunity to engage with the EPIC Foundation team and for their continued commitment to advancing equitable, community-led change.
EPIC Foundation Team:
Alexandre Mars | Sarah Tirmarche | Jonathan Hude-Dufossé | Myriam Vander Elst | Danny Vannucchi | Silvia Paci
#Partnerships #UrbanInequality #CommunityDevelopment #UrbanPoverty #SocialImpact #Mumbai #Apnalaya
