"I am now able to contribute something to my family."  says Santhoshamma, a widow in India.  Her story is common to many elderly widows.  She lives with her son and daughter in law.  Previously, her daughter-in-law looked down on her and saw her as a burden to the family, just another mouth to feed.

There are many elderly widows who cannot work any longer but are in need of the essentials of life, such as food, clothes, and medical care. For $5 a month, we are caring for elderly widows like Yellamma. Yellamma has been a widow for 15 years and is about 65 years old. She is considered cursed in her family because of her husband's death...something that already brings her pain, loneliness and grief.  She is currently living with her daughter and son-in-law essentially as a slave in their house. Often times she is thrown out of the house by her son-in-law if anything goes wrong in his house.  According to him, she is to blame. She has gone without food for days, has had to sleep outside some nights, and has had to resort to begging in the neighboring streets.