Nirvana Chaudhary contacted his friend Jaivir Singh, the vice chairman and president of PwC India Foundation, for help and advice. After several the discussions, the foundation committed $2.5 million USD to build several thousand transitional homes and dozens of schools within the year.

In order to accomplish the task, Chaudhary Foundation set-up an earthquake steering committee. The foundation first considered outsourcing the construction but found them to be too costly for a project of this magnitude. The group decided to use its own in-house expertise and partnering with India-based organization, Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (SEEDS), to come up with an innovative pro-type home for less than half the cost — CG Ashraya was born.

Along with SEEDS, the foundations decided the homes should be built using locally sourced raw materials, as well as materials that could be upgraded or reused in the future to create a more permanent shelter. The shelters were designed to be easily built, so once training was provided to the beneficiaries through CG Shipshikshya, the beneficiaries themselves could construct the buildings. Each shelter’s life span was estimated to be about three to five years, it should cost less than $600 USD and only take threes days with a team of five to build.

Ten out of the 14 most affected districts were chosen as sites for the project. Households were selected based on the following criteria: pregnant women, female heads of house, children under two years of age, elderly residents or highly economically deprived families.

At each construction site a social mobilizer, technical advisor and accountant were deployed. The social mobilizers encouraged people to come forward for construction training, the technical advisors conducted the actual trainings and the accountants kept track of the building supplies.

Between June 2015 to July 2016, Ashraya constructed over 3,000 transitional homes that house over 10,000 residents across 10 districts. Due to the superior design, many of the structures are still being used as homes or shops today and are expected to surpass their lifespans.