This Centre is the dream come true of a saintly Italian Salesian Priest. Rev. Fr. Orpheus Mantovani. His dream was to help the poorest of the poor in Madras (today Chennai) and at that time this area was a big slum with a lot of poor people, many of them homeless. The Salesians have toiled hard in this area of North Chennai for more than 50 years to help the poor of the neighbourhood. The small sapling that Fr. Mantovani planted between 1964-1965 has grown into a mighty tree that has provided and still provides food, shelter, education, training, job opportunities, the gift of faith, entertainment, sporting facilities to thousands of young people and adults. The Beatitudes Social welfare center, as it is called now, has a number of welfare programmes extended towards the orphan and semi-orphan children, juvenile children, poor and unemployed youth, women from poor economic background, poor slum dwellers, poor and abandoned elderly men and women. It is a parish, a home, a playground, a school and a place of rest for the abandoned elderly, (This was our founder Don Bosco’s dream). Our Programmes help educate, train and empower the poor of all age groups, ‘from cradle to the grave’. This center is sustained solely by Divine Providence, which is seen through the contribution of generous people from different parts of the world. “No one has the right to be happy alone” were the inspiring words of Rev. Fr. Francis Schlooz, a great missionary and lover of the poor who was the Director of Don Bosco Beatitudes for 13 years, after Fr. Mantovani. This motto of the Institution is being practiced even today. Happiness happens when you help someone in need!
The Beatitudes Umbrella brings under its loving care the following Units: