Attorney Sheela Murthy to be Honored by Baltimore Children’s Guild

Late last month, the Children’s Guild of Baltimore announced that Sheela Murthy had been selected as their 2012 Sadie Award honoree, in recognition of Murthy’s commitment to improving the lives of women, children, and immigrants through her philanthropic works here in Baltimore – her adopted hometown – and in her native India. The award will be presented at the Children’s Guild’s annual black-tie gala, Cabaret for Kids, on Saturday, April 14, 2012. According to the Children’s Guild, the gala “will feature an original piece of musical theater” that “will portray the transformative effect of Murthy’s philosophy of life on the disadvantaged and the community.”

Sheela Murthy is best known as founder and president of the Murthy Law Firm, a premier immigration firm with an international reputation. She is widely recognized as an authoritative voice on immigration matters, and as the creative entrepreneur who launched murthy.com, the most popular immigration law website in the world. In the philanthropic community, though, Murthy is known for her personal generosity – for the time, talent, and treasure she gives back to her community. She provides leadership to several nonprofit organizations, serving actively on the boards of the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland, Stevenson University, and the American Immigration Council, and providing unstinting financial support through the MurthyNAYAK Foundation, the charitable organization established with her husband, filmmaker Vasant Nayak.

The motto of the MurthyNAYAK Foundation speaks volumes about her philosophy of giving back to the community: From Baltimore to Bangalore, Each Life Matters! The work of the Children’s Guild is very much in synch with that philosophy.

The Children’s Guild is a Baltimore nonprofit that provides services for children and adolescents with emotional, behavioral, and mental disorders. It was founded here in 1953 by the eminent Johns Hopkins child psychiatrist, Dr. Leo Kanner, along with pediatrician, Dr. Matthew Debuskey, and well-known advocate for children, Sadie Dashew Ginsburg, for whom the Sadie Award is named. The Children’s Guild is a pioneer in meeting the special needs of children with autism and other mental health challenges. Over the years, it has grown to encompass a broad array of services:

• Special education day schools – for children with autism or other disabilities that make it difficult for them to participate in regular school programs
• School-to-work program – helping developmentally-delayed students to learn job skills that will help them to find lasting employment after graduation
• Autism Spectrum Program – providing individualized education for children with complex emotional and behavioral disabilities
• Family Help Center – offering mental health services to children and families coping with emotional and behavioral disabilities, and related challenges
• Treatment Foster Care – providing a supportive, caring home for children whose complex problems make them difficult for a regular foster home to manage
• Group Living Academy – a residential treatment program that functions as a private boarding school for children with difficult mental and emotional conditions

All of us at the Murthy Law Firm are proud of Sheela’s leadership and her deep commitment to helping others. Congratulations, Sheela!