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Daisy Mathew (1959 – 2007) Daisy Mathew (1959-2007) was an Indian lawyer, social activist and philanthropist in the southern Indian state of Karnataka who opened one of the first shelters dedicated to offering long-term care and rehabilitation to women living on the streets. The shelter, named Abayashram (meaning a place to rest in safety), continues to offer rehabilitative services to marginalized women, many of whom include former sex workers and devadasi (also devdasi). Abayashram is a project overseen by Vision India, the non-profit organization also founded by Mathew. Life Mathew was born in a small village in the southern Indian state of Kerala, and attended the Hoskote Mission School with the intention of becoming a pediatric (or crèche) nurse. But her early training exposed her to the challenges faced by children born into poverty and as she learned the scope of the problems faced by those who lived in the poor districts, Mathew decided to take an active role in transforming those communities. Mathew graduated in Arts from Mysore University [date needed] and received a Master’s degree in Sociology from Annamalai University in 1988. After her graduation, Mathew was employed as a social worker by the Shivanapura Day Care Center in Bangalore, where she started several projects that offered vocational training to rural youth. Mathew’s job at Shivanapura exposed her to the challenges faced by the families of the district, but she was particularly touched by the plight of the women subsisting at the margins of society, living on the streets, disowned by their families and ignored by society. One by one, Mathew began to take such women home with her, offering them a place of safety to heal and rest. In 1996, she left her job at Shivanapura to devote herself to full-time care of the women she had rescued, relying on donations and her savings to pay expenses. The Founding of Abayashram: A Place to Rest in Safety As her outreach grew, the scope of her mission expanded, and after raising enough funds, Mathew opened Abayashram on the 11th of September, 1998. The facility coordinated mental health and vocational training for residents that would allow them to re-join their families as independent women. Mathew worked to achieve family reconciliations that would permit the women to become part of the larger social community. The challenges faced by the women she cared for inspired Mathew to continue her education, and in 1999, shortly after opening Abayashram, Mathew received her degree in law from [attribution needed]. Her work in the courts of Bangalore focused on advocacy for women in distress, and Mathew was often able to have women released to her custody, to be treated at Abayashram until they could be safely released. HIV-positive women were in a particularly difficult situation, and Mathew was fearless in her approach to housing and treating such patients. Abayashram finally settled into a permanent location in 2002, when a facility was established in Katamnallur, an area on the outskirts of Bangalore. Operated by Vision India, the registered non-profit started by Mathew, the shelter at Abayashram was sustained through volunteer labor and dedicated donations. Death Mathew survived a traumatic car accident in 2004, but the damage to a crushed leg was severe, and hampered her mobility. In 2007, Mathew was diagnosed with cancer of the colon, which had advanced to an inoperable and terminable state; she died on May 5, 2007. Following Mathew’s death, Vision India’s Board of Directors appointed a successor, [attribution needed]. Vision India continues as a registered charity, and began to expand and improve Abayashram’s facilities in 2014. Donations continue to be sought to fund the work of rehabilitation and reintegration of marginalized women in Bangalore.