Communicating the value of Pragathi organization to the wider world thereby setting a platform for tapping into philanthropic organizations

Abstract

Initiatives taken up to reform mentally challenged children and disabled kids have been increasing drastically. There are numerous non-profit organizations and Government agencies working towards this common goal. All of them have similar issues like identifying the kids at an early stage so that they can get the required help and convincing the parents. Another major issue is the funding required especially for the non-profit organizations. Even though there are many grants from Governments and other agencies due to lack of awareness and coordination between government and such agencies, some of the non-profit organizations face an issue in obtaining regular funding. Pragati Institute for Reformation of Mentally Challenged was started in 1999 by Smt. C. Rajyalakshmi to reform and rehabilitate mentally challenged people of all ages. Pragati is essentially a family run organization with Smt. Rajyalakshmi as the Secretary and other members of her family forming the executive team. Major source of funding for Pragati is donations and money contributed by family members of Smt. Rajyalakshmi. Tuition fee collected also acts as a source of income. But the tuition amount collected is very less compared to the actual expenditure and lack of timely payments from the parents is a major issue. As there is no regular and guaranteed source of income, it may lead to further issues in the long run. A few initiatives for sustainable funding have been taken to tap into organizations such as ‘Asha for Education’ based in United States but the funding has not materialized yet.