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The Solanki Foundation · Inaugural Initiative
INDIAN
MENTAL HEALTH

Because healing deserves dignity. Expanding access to culturally competent mental health resources, community support, and pathways to healing for Indian men and women.

THE NEED

Silence Is Not Strength

Mental health stigma runs deep across the Indian community — a cultural silence that touches every household, every generation. The experiences are different, but the silence is the same.

INDIAN WOMEN

Because Healing Deserves Dignity

Too many Indian women navigate the aftermath of relationship trauma — infidelity, domestic violence, emotional abuse — in silence. Cultural stigma around mental health, fear of family judgment, and a lack of culturally competent resources leave women isolated at the moments they need support most.

Up to 40% of South Asian women in the US report experiencing intimate partner violence. Self-harm and suicidal ideation are significantly higher among South Asian immigrant women than among men.
INDIAN MEN

Because Asking for Help Is Not Weakness

Too many Indian men carry the weight of unspoken mental health struggles — depression, anxiety, the pressure to endure in silence. Society tells them that seeking help is a sign of weakness. Cultural expectations around stoicism and self-reliance keep men from ever reaching out, even when they are breaking inside.

Only 34% of South Asian Americans seek treatment within a year of symptoms — and for men, the number is far lower. Cultural expectations around stoicism mean most never reach out at all.

The Solanki Foundation exists to change that equation — expanding access to culturally competent mental health resources, community support, and pathways to healing for Indian men and women alike. We do not diagnose. We do not run clinical interventions. We connect, fund, and amplify the people and programs that do.

"Strength is not silence. It is the courage to ask for what you deserve."
THREE PILLARS

Support. Access. Stability.

This initiative is organized around three program areas — each designed to meet people where they are and walk alongside them toward something better.

Support

Peer support circles and community partnerships that create safe, culturally familiar spaces to share, connect, and begin healing — without judgment, without stigma, and without having to explain your world.

Access

Subsidized therapy, counseling navigation, and connections to culturally competent mental health professionals. We remove the financial and cultural barriers that keep people from getting the help they need.

Stability

Emergency support pathways through established partner organizations — connecting individuals in crisis to safety resources, legal aid referrals, and transitional support that helps them rebuild on their own terms.

The Reality

Why the Need Is Urgent

The data tells a story our communities already know — but rarely confront openly.

1 in 5
US South Asians experience a mood or anxiety disorder in their lifetime — yet the vast majority never seek treatment
less likely to seek mental health services compared to white Americans, driven by cultural stigma and lack of accessible, competent care
6.4%
of Asian American adults utilize mental health services — compared to 17.6% of white adults — one of the widest treatment gaps of any group
A Personal Note

Why This Work Matters

I grew up in an Indian household where certain things were never discussed. Mental health. Marital struggles. The quiet suffering that happened behind closed doors. Men did not talk about their feelings. Women did not talk about their pain. These were things you simply did not name.

The Solanki Foundation was born from the belief that silence is not strength — and that our community deserves more than endurance. Women navigating trauma deserve support that understands their world. Men carrying the weight of unspoken struggles deserve a path to healing that does not require them to break first. Everyone deserves resources that meet them where they are.

This is not charity. This is accountability. To the people who raised us, to the ones raising the next generation, and to the culture we want to build going forward.

NITIN SOLANKI Founder, Solanki Co
Get Involved

Be Part of the Change

Whether through direct support, organizational partnerships, or simply sharing the mission — there are meaningful ways to contribute.

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