India - Coimbatore Project Proposal
Greetings of Peace and Joy from the Indian Union and from me, Fr. Darwin MSC, the Union Superior. Hope this letter finds you in good health in body and mind.
First of all, I would like to express my sincere and heartfelt gratitude for the constant support that we receive from Mission Office – Australia. There is no way to fully express our gratitude for your generosity. Your support has repeatedly played a key role in our recent accomplishments in the Indian Union. We are continually inspired by your dedication and generosity.
By the grace of God we have been able to grow in number at a good pace. With the growing number of our confreres, we are looking at spreading to other dioceses and venturing into new ministries. Now, through a generous donor in Coimbatore, we have been offered 45 cents of land on the outskirts of the Coimbatore city limits (Balaji Nagar, Kurudampalayam Village, Ashokapuram Panchayat, NGGO Colony Post, Coimbatore -22). The donor’s intention is that we should establish a mercy home to serve people like old, mentally/physically challenged, orphans and AIDS patients. So, we hope to start a home to shelter elderly men and women who have no financial resources to care for themselves. We feel this would be a great opportunity for us to widen our mission and apostolate.
The Indian Union council entrusted Chevalier Charitable Society with the responsibility to work out different programs and to get established. Finally, we registered the Coimbatore land on the 13th of October 2020 under Chevalier Charitable Society which took our energy and time for many years. We hope to start a new community here, so that we get to do the mission concretely. This is indeed a milestone reached in the life of MSC Indian Union. I have attached all the details of the Coimbatore Project along with this letter.
Once again, thank you very much for your continuous support and prayers. We too assure our prayers.
Thank you
Yours in the Heart of Christ
Fr. Thatheus Darwin MSC
MSC Indian Union Superior
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Mention:
"India - Coimbatore Project"
Coimbatore Proposal
Background
On 13th October 2020, Chevalier Charitable Society, India (CCS) run by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (legally known as Heart of Jesus Society) has signed an MoU with Mr. Joseph of Coimbatore to jointly implement an ‘Works of Mercy’ project on a plot of land that Mr. Joseph has donated via Gift Deed to CCS. The proviso is that this project must be implemented in 3 years, failing which, the donor would like us to offer the land to some other charitable organization.
This document will outline the process that CCS is proposing to implement the proposal. CCS is seeking a preliminary go-ahead to initiate presence of 2 Priests of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart at the site who will conduct a feasibility study to determine the project deliverables, resource and funds requirements and implementation timeline. Expenses incurred in this phase will be an investment towards assessing feasibility. Once the feasibility study is complete, CCS will prepare a detailed project charter and will seek fresh authorization to proceed.
Objective
So far, CCS has been involved in activities that focus on Clean Drinking Water, Educational Help to Disadvantaged Youth, Medical help to the Poor and Elderly for which we have received generous help from the Australia Mission Office. However, as the Union evolves towards achieving the status of Province, we need to widen our scope of spreading the Devotion to the Sacred Heart by also delivering programs that help the marginalized and disadvantaged.
We are examining possibilities of implementing Works of Mercy in the areas of delivering Aged Care or setting up Charity Clinics etc. At present, we feel setting up an Old Age Home would be ideally suited towards expanding the scope of our activities to achieve our mission and vision in India. Our reasons for looking at Aged Care are the following:
● Coimbatore is the second largest city in Tamil Nadu and is rapidly expanding like other Tier 2 cities in India (current population - more 2 million persons)
● The location of the donated land is close to a major highway and as the city expands, the value of the land is rapidly increasing. Coimbatore serves as an entry and exit point to neighboring Kerala and the ever-popular hill station of Nilgiris.
● In India, aged care is becoming a major problem as the younger generation is increasingly mobile with an acute shortage of availability of aged-care facilities for the lower middle class and poor categories of people.
Timeline & Phases
The program will be delivered in three phases:
1. Feasibility Phase
This phase will include the following:
a. Finalize Agreement and MoU between donor and CCS (✅)
b. Prepare the Project Proposal (this document) (✅)
c. Agree preliminary funding arrangements (Nov-Dec 2020)
d. Post Approval, nominate 2 members to go to Coimbatore (Jan 2021)
e. Assess Site, conduct basic repairs (Jan-Feb 2021)
f. Feasibility Study, Small acts of charity (Jan-May 2021)
g. Final Project Charter (Jun 2021)
2. Project Phase
This phase will commence, post approval of the project-charter for which time-lines will be decided in the feasibility study. Typical steps would be:
a. Mobilisation (selection of contractors, resource providers, compliances)
b. Infrastructure Preparation (Building, Interiors, Equipment)
c. Operations Preparation (out-sourcing providers, medical facilities, vendors, etc.)
d. Beneficiary Activation (communications, guidelines, onboarding processes )
e. Finance/Administration/Governance/Compliance process setup.
3. Operations Phase
This phase will be determined by actions to be carried out in phase 2.
TimeLine
Resourcing/Expenses
This proposal will discuss resources and expenses for the feasibility phase only.
1. Resources - it is proposed to nominate 2 members of MSC to move to Coimbatore, examine the feasibility of the project and prepare a project charter. Scope of the feasibility study is the following:
a. Target Beneficiaries, Scope of Care (policy, etc.)
b. Compliance Requirements
c. Infrastructure requirements
d. Operations Planning (High Level) - procedure, training options
e. Staffing and Resources including out-sourcing options
f. Funding Requirements (One-time, ongoing)
g. Governance, Administration.
2. Expenses: for the feasibility phase, the expenses are as follows:
Conversion Rate assumed is Rs. 50.00 = $ 1.00 AUD
2.1 Personnel Costs (6 months - feasibility study, 3 months awaiting approval = 9 months)
a. Living Expenses(Rs.15,000/- per person mth) x 2) Rs. 2,70,000/- ($ 5,400 AUD)
b. Allowance for ad-hoc charity in the feasibility phase Rs. 90,000/- ($ 1,800 AUD)
c. Allowance for travel (Fuel/transport) Rs. 45,000/- ($ 900 AUD)
d. Contingency (approx. 10% for emergency expenses) Rs. 45,000/- ($900 AUD)
Total Rs. 4,50,000/- ($9,000 AUD)
2.2 Building Repairs, Vehicle Costs.
a. Renovation, Furniture, Bedding, Linen, etc. Rs. 4,00,000/- ($8,000 AUD)
b. Transport (motor-cycle etc.) Rs. 1,00,000/- ($2,000 AUD)
Total Rs. 5,00,000/- ($10,000 AUD)
Approval
We are seeking approval and funding to initiate the feasibility study towards utilizing the generous donation of the land in Coimbatore for a Works of Mercy (targeted to set up an Aged Care Home). The timeline for feasibility study is 6 months (with 3 months approval post submission built-in) and the cost estimate is Rs. 9,50,000/- (AUD 19,000/-). Two MSC members will be dedicated for this task.
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Mention:
"India - Coimbatore Project"