Report – Site Visit to Tomorrows Foundation

Report – Site Visit to Tomorrows Foundation By Sandip Mukherjee – 06/17/2014 Introduction :- Tomorrow's Foundation is an Organization which has been helping underprivileged children primarily in the red-light districts of Kolkata with education, vocational training and accommodation. TF provides supplemental training, a congenial environment for learning, facilities for sports and also funds the higher education for interested students. Mother Project :- Mother Project is a successful program run by TF near the Kalighat Temple. This project comprises of morning classes (Classes I to V) and coaching classes from 3.15 to 8pm fo the Hindi medium students at the KMC building and classes for Bengali medium students of classes - I to X. Classes begin with the prayers. The 2-storied KMC Building has 8 classrooms and employs 12 teachers, 1 administrator and 2 home visit persons who visit students’ homes in the evenings. In total around 240 students are supported, evening and morning sessions combined. Out of the 12 teachers, 7 are provided by TF. The salaries are paid by KMC. ~6 % of the total cost is bear by TF for Hindi School and ~95 % of the expenses are borne by TF for the mother project. ASHA Silicon Valley sponsors 50 students under the mother project as of now and 60 other students are funded by other organizations or individual sponsors. Under the mother project the students are also provided either a mid-day meal (morning students) or an evening snack (evening students) From speaking with them, I understand that they are facing acute shortage of funds presently. They do not have enough space for storage and administrative offices. They do not have therir own space for sports and cultural programmes and are having to rely on the availability of others grounds and facilities. I met some students who have graduated and now have well established careers that they have achieved with the help of TF. On an average the attendance is around 180 students every day at the center. Checked the documents & met with the guardians to confirm the awareness of absence of students. Prabhas Janna & Shiuli Chatterjee are the persons in charge of home visits and I had the opportunity to talk with them. They will change their Office address in Tallygaunge from 417, Hossenpur, Cooperative Road, Kolkata - 700107, probably in next month. Position of Fund :- As mentioned earlier, they do not have not enough funds to support all the planned activities for the currently enrolled students. Due to insufficient funds they will close 2 hostels at C.G. They also have a bus for transportation that they have not utilized since they cannot afford to maintain the vehicle and keep it running. As per their Financial 14 -15 Budget they have a shortage of 18 lakhs excluding the increment of employee's and executive staff’s salaries. The total planned budget for the mother project is 11 lakh.

Apart from this, they need help to continue 2 hostels which are going to be closed if they are unable to do so. The website is in need of development to scale/upgrade in accordance with the needs of the organization. Most critically, the online payment portal is in dire need of an update which directly affects the flux of funds. Apart from all these, TF is also looking for sponsors for the needs (Uniform or books, day to day meals) for more students.