Help a Woman Rebuild Her Safety and Dignity

When Anaya first came to North Texas, she carried the same dreams many immigrant South Asian women hold close to their hearts -a stable home, a loving marriage, a chance to build a future for her children, and a warm community that felt like family. She imagined laughter in her kitchen, weekend gatherings with friends, and a life filled with safety and dignity.

But soon after arriving in the U.S., her world began to change in ways she never expected.

Her husband controlled every dollar she spent. Phone calls to family back home were monitored. She was told not to make friends, not to leave the house alone, and not to “shame the family” by asking for help. When she tried to speak up, she was met with anger, threats, and silence. The fear grew quietly-just like it does for so many South Asian women who endure abuse behind closed doors, isolated from the community they long to belong to.

Anaya didn’t know where to go. She didn’t understand the legal system. She feared losing her children, her visa, her reputation, her family’s approval. She feared not being believed. And most of all, she feared the loneliness of having no one who understood her cultural world-her expectations, its pressures, its silence.

One night, after a particularly frightening incident, she messaged a woman she barely knew-someone she had met at a small cultural gathering months earlier.

That message made its way to SAARTHI.

When SAARTHI’s team first spoke to Anaya, they didn’t ask her to tell her story right away. They asked her something far more important:

“Are you safe right now?”

Then:

“We are here with you. You are not alone.”

For the first time, she felt understood-not judged, not blamed, not silenced.

Founded by sociologist Dr. Shikha Batra, SAARTHI was built to meet women like Anaya exactly where they are, honoring the cultural realities they face. The fear of “log kya kahenge,” the pressure to keep families intact, the language barriers, the immigration fears, the shame and stigma-these are not just words. They are walls. And SAARTHI knows how to gently open those walls, one conversation at a time.

That night, SAARTHI arranged safe temporary housing, food, clothes, transportation, a counseling referral and someone to sit with her, listen to her and help her breathe again.

For the first time in months, Anaya slept through the night.

Many domestic violence organizations do incredible work-but South Asian immigrant women face layers of cultural, economic, and emotional complexities that often go unseen.

Women fear deportation, they fear losing community ties, they fear their accents being mocked or misunderstood, they fear legal systems they don’t understand ,they fear being blamed by their own families.

SAARTHI is different.

Every guidance, every plan, every conversation is rooted in the sociological realities of South Asian culture-its beauty, its traditions, its complexities, its expectations. SAARTHI doesn’t just “respond” to abuse. It intervenes early, before suffering becomes lifelong trauma.

For women like Anaya, this cultural support isn’t just helpful-it’s life-saving.

When Anaya found her courage, something else happened-her story awakened her community: friends who never noticed the signs began paying attention, women who once whispered their fears began reaching out, volunteers offered rides, meals, weekend help, and open hearts, people who once looked away became protectors.

SAARTHI has seen this again and again.

South Asian women who once felt invisible find themselves surrounded by a village-people who open their homes, send groceries, sponsor trainings, offer jobs, share resources, and stand up for survivors who have nowhere else to turn.

This is the power of community, the power of cultural understanding. This is the power of SAARTHI.

With SAARTHI’s support, Anaya joined the Nayi Shuruyat (New Beginning) Program. She received job training, earned a certification, and connected with employers who valued her skills. She built friendships with other women who understood her journey. She found childcare support, transportation help, and emotional guidance from trained sociologists who saw her not as a victim-but as someone rebuilding her life with courage.

Today, Anaya has a stable job, her own apartment, and a safe environment for her children. Her voice is louder. Her confidence is stronger. Her hope is alive.

And she often tells SAARTHI:

“You didn’t just help me escape fear. You helped me discover myself again.”

Anaya’s story is not the only one. She is one of nearly 300 women SAARTHI has supported since 2016. It all happens because people like you choose to care.

Your compassion becomes someone's turning point.

We often say, “It takes a village.” For South Asian women facing domestic abuse, that village is you. When you give to SAARTHI, you are not just donating.
 You are saying, with your actions:

"This North Texas Giving Day- Hope has a name and that name is SAARTHI"

and it has supporters like YOU standing behind it.