Udavum Karangal (Helping Hands in English) is an ISO certified NGO, established in 1983, with the sole objective of serving people in distress especially orphans and destitute. It was started as guidance and counseling center by Shri Vidyaakar, a psychiatric social worker, and later developed into a full-fledged center for humane service. A board of trustees governs Udavum Karangal and the day-to-day activities are managed by a group of dedicated staff members.

Udavum Karangal is a registered society under Tamilnadu Societies Registration Act of 1975 and its registered office is in Chennai , India.v

Udavum Karangal works relentlessly for the rescue and care of abandoned children and adults in the society. Over 1500 destitute are being taken care of in its various homes. The residents include, abandoned babies, orphaned children, some of whom are mentally challenged, physically disabled or are HIV+. There is a focus on the mentally ill: rescuing them, and rehabilitating them. Homeless aged people, terminally ill and HIV/AIDS victims are provided with medical treatment, psychological support and care by the dedicated volunteers who work round the clock.
Schools , Community Outreach programs, Hospital, Mental Health programs are some of the services of Udavum Karangal. ( Please see the section WHAT WE DO).

Udavum Karangal does not receive any government funding or foreign grants. This makes us to work independently and to implement our programs and projects effectively and faster.

The two main sources of funds that Udavum Karangal depends on are the donations from philanthropic public and from organizations, which give importance to corporate social responsibility. Public contribution in cash and kind helps us in meeting the day to day needs, while the corporate support helps in implementing projects. Udavum Karangal reaches the public and the corporate sector by sending out appeals during festival season and school re-opening time.

Since its beginning 34 years ago, Udavum Karangal has demonstrated that each of us contributing to the degree we can in our own unique way can accomplish amazing things. Even today, more than 85% of the funds Udavum Karangal raises come from individual donors. “Whatever you do will make a difference to a child’s life and to your own.”

Udavum Karangal has 250 persons as salaried employees. They are paid a regular salary. It is important to note, however, that Udavum Karangal salaries are modest in comparison with commercial organizations. Our objective is to obtain long-term, full-time, dedicated services from professionally qualified individuals. We believe these are necessary to ensure that all our activities – development, support, financial management etc. – are carried out efficiently, thus ensuring that the resources we raise from the public are utilized optimally.

We would like to take this opportunity, to reiterate our on-going need for support to Udavum Karangal, in the form of infrastructure, equipment, corpus funds, skills and services. It is support of this nature that enables us to focus on our activities in the field rather than on our own viability. Each rupee we save on costs is another rupee that can be deployed to the benefit of deprived people under our care.

Udavum Karangal has centers in Chennai, Coimbatore, Thiruvannamalai and Madurai.

Udavum Karangal is committed to the highest levels of management of all its resources. Through systematic monitoring and evaluation Udavum Karangal seeks ongoing improvement of the quality of its projects. In addition, Udavum Karangal has systematic financial audits each year of all its projects and maintains a high level of accountability to its sponsors and donors. Total transparency in transactions with our supporters is the norm.

Further, any donor is free to visit our facilities and see the impact of how their donation is making a change in the lives of children and other residents.

Approximately, 89% of all the funds received by Udavum Karangal go directly to the projects and around 11% is used to meet administration costs.