This chapter traces the historical journey of Annapurna Pariwar, its genesis and the challenges faced and overcome along the way. The response of Annapurna Pariwar to the turning points it faced, led to the evolution of six developmental organisations which organically evolved from meeting the needs of poor, productive women from the slums of Pune and Mumbai. It is the effort of Medha Purao Samant who gave up her job at a bank to solve the financial problems of vegetable vendors in the area she visited for buying her necessities. Beginning with nine women, and financing loans from her own pocket of a sum of Rs. 1000, Medha Tai as she is called, today has 40,000 active borrowers and a total loan disbursement of Rs. 3000 crore. From one location in a slum in Pune, it has spread to 650 slums and to 1250 slums in Mumbai. From one single person Medha Tai, the organisation now has a staff of 300. As the needs of members grew and as Medha Tai and her team realised what the members needed, and services became a bouquet that were relevant to the community and the times. These grew into various savings schemes: micro mutual insurance for life, health, assets, etc; a pension scheme; childcare centres for children (these are self-sustaining enterprises) and educational support to the children of single mothers. Challenges such as demonetisation and Covid-19 pandemic, wreaked havoc on the likelihoods of Annapurna members and the functioning of the organisation. The organisation coped with these times in ways that are lessons for the future.