Ananda Corps
A Service Network of the Hindu Spiritual Care Institute
The Hindu Spiritual Care Institute (HSCI) will soon launch Ananda Corps, a network of dedicated and trained volunteers whose mission is to serve the San Francisco Bay Area Community in matters of life and living, including celebrating joyful life events and dealing with episodes and transitions of the Passage of Life.
Ananda Corps volunteers will provide high-quality, compassionate support through a combination of relevant information, connection to resources for professional services, thoughtful guidance, and the offer of a helping hand, a listening ear and a compassionate presence. Ananda Corps will function under HSCI as a sister organization to the Counselor of Hindu Tradition (CHT) program, now in its third year.
The CHT Program and Ananda Corps will jointly implement HSCI’s Learn-Serve-Learn vision in the Bay Area community. The CHT Program focusing on learning and Ananda Corps on service, based on the same shared Service Model.
Ananda Corps will be an independent program within HSCI, with its own mission, charter, and leadership reporting to the Board of HSCI. Feedback will be actively sought from the community to improve service quality, and, when necessary, to adjust scope in response to community needs.
Ananda Corps’ range of service offerings will encompass most elements on the Passage of Life.
Members of the Ananda Corps will be drawn primarily (but not exclusively) from graduates of the CHT program and provided with additional prerequisite training. They will be equipped with a knowledge base essential for the areas targeted by the Service Model. They will have the support of a panel of Mentors and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), and supported by a robust Community Service Platform ACIS that includes the Samskara Guidance System (SGS): a robust infrastructure based on a toll-free call-in number and decision-tree thinking, to help analyze incoming calls, assess the request, respond with accurate information to assist the caller, and close each case confidentially with the required documentation. In addition to this Community Service Platform, Ananda Corps members will have at their disposal a detailed and well-thought-out Field Operations Manual (FOM) to assist them in providing high-quality compassionate service for each incoming request.
Ananda Corps will be up and running in 2022.
--- Mukund Acharya, Chair, Ananda Corps
Ananda Corps volunteers will provide high-quality, compassionate support through a combination of relevant information, connection to resources for professional services, thoughtful guidance, and the offer of a helping hand, a listening ear and a compassionate presence. Ananda Corps will function under HSCI as a sister organization to the Counselor of Hindu Tradition (CHT) program, now in its third year.
The CHT Program and Ananda Corps will jointly implement HSCI’s Learn-Serve-Learn vision in the Bay Area community. The CHT Program focusing on learning and Ananda Corps on service, based on the same shared Service Model.
Ananda Corps will be an independent program within HSCI, with its own mission, charter, and leadership reporting to the Board of HSCI. Feedback will be actively sought from the community to improve service quality, and, when necessary, to adjust scope in response to community needs.
Ananda Corps’ range of service offerings will encompass most elements on the Passage of Life.
Members of the Ananda Corps will be drawn primarily (but not exclusively) from graduates of the CHT program and provided with additional prerequisite training. They will be equipped with a knowledge base essential for the areas targeted by the Service Model. They will have the support of a panel of Mentors and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), and supported by a robust Community Service Platform ACIS that includes the Samskara Guidance System (SGS): a robust infrastructure based on a toll-free call-in number and decision-tree thinking, to help analyze incoming calls, assess the request, respond with accurate information to assist the caller, and close each case confidentially with the required documentation. In addition to this Community Service Platform, Ananda Corps members will have at their disposal a detailed and well-thought-out Field Operations Manual (FOM) to assist them in providing high-quality compassionate service for each incoming request.
Ananda Corps will be up and running in 2022.
--- Mukund Acharya, Chair, Ananda Corps
