INDIA
ESCIP: Empowering Spinal Cord Injured Persons
A project administered by Millennium Relief & Development Services (USA), the Indian Head Injury Foundation (India), and ESCIP Trust India.
Our Mission
We empower people with spinal cord injuries — especially those from low-income backgrounds — to rebuild their lives through peer mentoring, physical rehabilitation, and mental wellness support.
Our Legacy
Launched in 2013 by Jonathan Sigworth, an American who became paralyzed in India at age 19, ESCIP operated a thriving transitional living center where SCIs received practical wheelchair and activities of daily living skills training from peer mentors, alongside free physical therapy through the Indian Head Injury Foundation. Our peer-mentoring model has helped hundreds of individuals transition from hopelessness to independence.
Our Work Today
Due to limited resources, we now focus heavily on online peer mentoring, reaching SCI individuals across India. Each day, we provide support, encouragement, and guidance — thanks to a dedicated team of volunteer doctors, physiotherapists, nurses, and experienced mentors. We also assist the most vulnerable with essential needs: medicines, hospital visits, transportation, and ongoing phone-based support. For many, ESCIP is their only lifeline.
Why We Need You
Our current initiative is to help 15–20 participants achieve independence every three months. With additional funding, we can organize in-person camps to assess their progress and provide further hands-on support, as well as re-open our transitional living center strategically near an Indian Head Injury Foundation rehabilitation clinic. To maintain our current virtual mentoring program, we need help raising $33,000; to expand our free services and re-open our center, we need to raise $51,000 or more.
Without ESCIP, these men and women — already burdened by injury and poverty — would have nowhere to turn. With your help, we can give them hope and the skills they need to thrive.
