Vision

Access to basic infrastructure and housing for the city’s poor. Urban planning must be inclusive and recognize that the less privileged are equal stakeholders in the process of planning. Their participation is vital when the city plans are being drawn up.

Mission

Shelter Associates is an experienced NGO (16 years) which facilitates linkages between the less privileged and other agencies like the urban local bodies, funding agencies or other resources providers for housing and infra-structure for urban poor.
The CBO Baandhani (an informal federation of the urban poor) which works in partnership with Shelter ensures maximum representation of the less privileged as well as their participation. This includes the entire process from plan design, to implementation and management of a sustainable project that is replicable and scalable.
Shelter Associates empowers people with purpose to pursue their right to dignity from toilets, to home, to livelihoods. SA uses its research findings as advocacy tools for impacting policies and raising awareness about issues concerning the urban poor.

Philosophy

We believe that the planning for the poor has to be a part of the urban mainstream planning. When the city is being planned for, the poor must be a part of the plan.The CBO, Baandhani ensures maximum representation of the poor and participation to carry the work forward. All planning for the poor must have the poor as the largest participant in plan design, implementation and management or it fails as a sustainable and replicable project. The poor can best carry out the process of replication because they can reach out to and teach the other poor the best.
The NGO, Shelter Associates acts as a link between the poor and many other agencies that fund or provide the resources for housing and basic infrastructure for the poor. Plus it provides many skills like preparing drawings, structural design, preparing academic papers for journals, skills which the poor need not have.
For the process to go on the, the NGO-CBO partnership is a must. They must work together, because each has skills to offer which ensures that the work goes on, as it should. Neither the poor can do everything, nor can the NGO. But together, they can work towards sustainable, replicable housing and infrastructure projects.

THE THIRD PARTNER
The third partner is the government. It must be, if the poor have to be included into mainstream planning. Housing finance must be government resources that the NGO-CBO partnership must use. Infrastructure projects have to be supported by the local authorities. Land for the poor is a responsibility of the government. Sanctions must be given by the authorities.