A New Hub for Services to the Children, Young at Risk and other Vulnerable Categories of People

A beautiful, modern and well-equipped Social Work Coordination Centre for the state of Kerala as well as Skill Training Centre —DB Veedu was officially opened in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on 26 January 2025. This much-anticipated project of BREADS with the financial assistance from JuWe, Switzerland was inaugurated by the Provincial of the Salesians of Bangalore, Dr. Fr. Jose Koyickal, and blessed by Most Rev. Thomas Netto, Archbishop of Trivandrum.

Since 1991, Don Bosco Manacaud, Trivandrum has been reaching out to children and youth on the street through various services: CHILDLINE services, including an exclusive Railway CHILDLINE to protect children at railway stations, and two rehabilitation centres offering education and skilling. Their presence expanded to local slums with supplementary education classes to prevent further marginalisation among children and to promote skilling and self-reliance among youth and women, as well related advocacy, research and documentation.

Since 2001, BREADS has supported Don Bosco Manacaud’s rescue and rehabilitation interventions, community health, skill training for youth and women empowerment, slum development, migrant services (KISMAT) and addiction prevention (DREAM) programmes. With the aim to extend these interventions and impact more people in need, BREADS, with the generous support of JuWe Switzerland, envisaged a new DB Veedu hub, to promote development activities and skilling programmes in Thiruvananthapuram, to significantly extend the existing interventions of Don Bosco to more areas in the city as well as the state of Kerala.

As a Coordinating Centre of social work for the state of Kerala, this centre will facilitate all the networking programmes and as  a social service centre, DB Veedu will empower children, youth and women through various initiatives, including:

• Vocational skilling programmes in various sectors, benefitting the underprivileged youth from slums, and migrant youth and coordinating their job placement.

• A counselling centre offering counselling services for vulnerable children and youth.
• A migrant help desk to support the large population of migrants, especially the youth.

BREADS greatly appreciates the partnership of JuWe and the dedicated involvement of the local Don Bosco community in making the centre a reality.  In partnership with the local Don Bosco community, BREADS looks forward to the expansion of services that will positively impact thousands of children and youth in need in the state of Kerala.