Iyyappan Subramanian, founder of Sri Arunodayam, was born and brought up in Edaiyur village in Thiruvarur district in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India. Iyyappan’s older brother Vazimugam endured Down’s syndrome. The remote village could not provide any support. When Vazimugam was 13, he suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away.

The personal loss, the pathetic state of medical facilities, lack of awareness about mental retardation, societal indifference, and treatment meted out to the mentally challenged, made Iyyappan understand the dire necessity to work for mentally challenged children.

Iyyappan pursued his education and career in the field of disability and rehabilitation. The experience he gained during this period made him realize that there are not many organizations working for abandoned, mentally challenged and spastic children. Therefore, Iyyappan resolved that Sri Arunodayam would open doors to all mentally challenged and spastic children deserted by their families. Iyyappan launched Sri Arunodayam when he was 22 years old. At that time, all he had were confidence and determination and zero financial resources.

Sri Arunodayam caters to a wide spectrum of mentally challenged children ranging from borderline cases who can be trained into becoming independent individuals, to profound cases requiring life-long palliative care and respite. The mixed model, where children from various categories are accepted, makes the organization unique and increases its responsibility manifold. Each child is different and so are his or her needs, which call for individual attention and care.

The present strength of Sri Arunodayam is 84 children. The graph depicts the number of children who have gone out of Sri Arundayam (since 2003) due to various reasons.

The children are currently housed in two rented buildings. Fortunately, a donor provided us land and the construction of a new building is underway. The new premises will help to reduce the space constraint provide ample space for children to live and undergo the therapy and training activities.

We have a strong administration base which enables us to network with the government departments and other non-government organizations. This is supported by excellent documentation.