Part of the Bhumi Puja
Vrindavan, 2017.04.09 (VT) ISKCON Vrindavan will offer an assisted living facility for elderly devotees. The project, organized by ISKCON Vrindavan Devotee Care and Community Serivces, was inaugurated on April 4th with a Bhumi Puja.
The mission of the new facility is to provide care for seniors who have trouble caring for themselves. In the beginning, the facility will feature fifteen small apartments with attached bathrooms, an elevator and a recreation area. There will also be several live-in caregivers, with a medically-trained professional on site. The center will provide battery-powered rickshaws to shuttle residents to and from the ISKCON temple.
ISKCON Devotee Care Director Prema Prakash Das said that devotees of all ashrams – whether they are brahmacharis, sannyasis or grihasthas – who have offered their lives for spreading the message of Krishna Consciousness, are eligible to live in the facility with a recommendation from ISKCON authorities. He hopes to provide services on a “pay as you like” basis; those who can afford to pay can pay, and those who cannot will stay for free.
ISKCON president Panchagauda Das said, “Srila Prabhupada wanted the devotees to come to Vrindavan to retire, to finish their days. We can see that our congregation is really growing and developing all over the world, and many devotees have spent many years serving in Srila Prabhupada’s mission. […] So we are trying to provide a small facility to assist devotees and help them to stay in Vrindaban.”
Devotee Care Executive Board (left to right): Shrimati Kusha devi dasi, Shri Prema Prakash Das, Shri Panchagauda Das, and Shrimati Gaurapurnima devi dasi
Land and a small building with several rooms were donated to the project by Shri Shyamasundar Dasji, a very senior devotee in ISKCON. The existing structure will be used primarily as an office and housing for caregivers. Donations are currently being accepted for constructing the main facility.
Prema Prakash Das added, “We are trying to develop this project in such a way that we are also able to help our local devotees and others whenever they have medical issues. We already have two Ayurvedic doctors, a naturopathist, an accupressure specialist, a dentist and an eye-doctor on board.”
ISKCON Devotee Care provides medical camps service of the devotees. One popular serivce is offered by a physical therapist from Delhi who can reportedly relieve any kind of joint and nervous pain without the use of medicine. His service is well-known at ISKCON Delhi, where local people, politicians and police alike come to find relief. This service is now being made available in Vrindavan as well every Saturday and Sunday, completely free of cost.
The Devotee Care Project is led by ISKCON Vrindavan’s temple president Shri Pancagauda Das, his wife Shrimati Gaura Purnima devi dasi, the director of Devotee Care Shri Prem Prakash Das, and ISKCON Vrindavan Community Services Director Shrimati Kusha devi dasi.
For more information on the project and related services, please contact: Prem Prakash Das at +91 88812 42466 or email VrindavanDevoteeCare@gmail.com
Some details from this article were taken from a previous publication by dandavats.com
The post ISKCON Vrindavan to Offer Assisted Living for Elderly Devotees appeared first on Vrindavan Today.