15 Minutes: Seema Kak, Executive Director of Kiran Inc.
Sarah Edwards at IndyWeek wrote about Kiran’s work for the South Asian community of NC.
Can you tell me about the work that Kiran does?
Our mission is to end the cycle of abuse and empower South Asian victims of domestic violence for the entire state of North Carolina by providing culturally specific services. We began in 1998; it was just a volunteer organization. A couple of women got together and wanted to highlight the domestic violence that had started to pick up, or at least become noticeable, in the South Asian communities. It grew from there. In 2008, the agency became federally funded for the first time as a nonprofit organization. So, other than just providing domestic violence services, we try to help these victims escape the cycle of abuse and rebuild their lives. We’re not limited to, but we have identified nine South Asian countries we serve, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Burma, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka…