Trust for Rural & Urban Social Transformation (TRUST) was established in 1990 by Mr. Venkatachalam Ramanujam, the first Chairman & Managing Trustee, and Dr. J.V. Jayasingh, the First Trustee.
TRUST was initially formed as a private, charitable trust to support and work through its sister organization, The Community Services Guild (CSG), a NGO that was founded by Mr. Ramanujam in 1980 for the social and economic development of women and children in Tamil Nadu. TRUST’s primary focus was on research, training and capacity building for CSG’s constituents and employees in order to empower them to take over and self-manage the programs in due course.
Upon CSG’s closure in 2010, TRUST merged its purpose with CSG’s mission, took over its programs and turned its attention to the welfare and holistic development of women and children in the Salem and Namakkal districts. Over the course of the past decade, TRUST helped it constituents set up new organizations such as PPK and WSI, and has completely handed over all of its programs to the constituents to be self-managed.
At present, TRUST engages in a variety of activities to fight poverty, and further its goals for social justice and equality, economic independence, and political empowerment among the urban, rural and tribal poor in the Salem and Namakkal districts of Tamil Nadu. This includes providing scholarships, launching an educational sponsorship program for children, as well as establishing and working with a producer organization in Karumandurai.
TRUST also places great importance on consulting, advising, supporting, and providing training for any other non-governmental or community-based organization that has similar objectives.
The strengthening of a society that values social and economic development and empowerment at all tiers, where all members, be they woman, man or child, are given the opportunity to thrive in life and become productive members of society.
To help society attain knowledge and social transformation, and develop leadership by nurturing various paths to rural and urban development, with special focus on providing the opportunity for education and empowerment for all constituents of TRUST.
Our core principles remain, as ever, the same as those of our sister agency, The Community Services Guild (CSG).
• We believe that to pursue holistic development is to pursue true empowerment
• We believe that by helping women and children depart poverty, significant social and economic challenges will also be addressed. These include: hunger, illiteracy, unemployment, child labour, caste disparities, female infanticide, feticide, and environmental destruction, among many others
• We believe that economic development and social cohesion can only be achieved by promoting the social, economic and political empowerment of women, and by dedicating oneself to the physical, mental and emotional well-being and development of children
• We believe that true empowerment cannot occur until the reins of development are taken over and sustained by the voluntary action of the community
• We believe in providing our constituents with the tools and support they need to achieve such empowerment
• Offer scholarships, tutoring and other forms of educational and training support to those students who do not have access to such opportunities
• Provide consultative support to community-based organizations (CBOs) in their constituents’ efforts toward empowerment in the social, economic and political spheres
• Arrange for or provide credit, grant and training support to such CBOs for the purpose of achieving self-reliance and self-management
• Strengthen micro-savings and credit of CBO constituents by setting up a formal financial institution(s)
• Assist in the development of marketing strategies and the sale of produce/products of CBO members
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