History

MITHRA was started in 1977 by Sr. Mary Theodore OAM an Australian nun. She came to India in 1951. During her service in various institutions of her congregation she was driven by divine inspiration to do something worthwhile for the most neglected section of the society --- Physically and Mentally challenged poor children----.. She decided to respond to the call and founded Mithra. She built up the institution braving heavy odds and reached out to all the less privileged in the society without any distinction of caste, creed, religion, gender or economic status. She was one among the pioneers in Chennai to give a multi disciplinary care and rehabilitation to children with different kinds of disabilities. She was the first area director for special Olympics in India. She was also the first President of the State Level Federation of Organisations for persons with disabilities. In this capacity she organised the first State Level Conference in which the State Government sanctioned for the first time the monthly financial assistance Scheme for all the differently abled.

She was conferred with many awards for her exemplary services

• Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM)
• The Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop Asia Medal
• National Award of Excellence
• Service above Self Award
• Jeevan Seva Award
• Outstanding Woman Achiever Award
• Social Reformer Award

Organisational Structure of Mithra

Mithra is a society registered under the Registration of Societies Act.{Regn. number 275/1973 } It is managed by a Managing Committee elected from the members of the General Council. The Managing Committee carries out various activities of Mithra and the General Council approves the policies and projects taken up for implementation.Mithra is thus a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) purely run on voluntary contributions from Friends and Well Wishers, both in India and abroad. Local donations are eligible for tax deduction under 80G of the Income Tax Act and Foreign contributions are authorized under FCRA {Registration number 075900124 }

Projects and initiatives

Active ongoing project is the construction of a New dormitory for Girls

Active current initiative is a Survey among poor and low income households to identify unattended children with disabilities and also young adult school dropouts so as to reach out and encourage them to avail the services at Mithra