Thanks to this cooperation project, 71 families in one of the driest and harshest zones in India have seen an exponential improvement in their quality of life and will now have a better future.
On 9 November, the “José Luis Serna Moukthikapuram” village of 71 homes was officially inaugurated, being named in honour of the founder of TM Real Estate Group. It is located in the Kalyandurg area, in the Anantapur district (south-east India). This charitable project has been promoted and funded by TM Real Estate Group in collaboration with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation as a result of the agreement signed in May 2018.
These new homes, for a total of 387 people, including 117 women, 138 men and 132 children who previously lived in shacks, will radically change the lives of the inhabitants of this community. All the houses have been registered in the names of the women to recognise the importance of their role and guarantee them an improvement in their social status.
The families themselves have been involved in the construction of the houses that began in June 2018. They are approximately 45 metres square in size and offer two rooms, a porch and a bathroom.
After being welcomed by all the inhabitants of the village with music, dance and ceremonies that are traditional to the area, Ángeles and Jesús Serna, Chair and Vice-Chair of TM, accompanied by Rajasekhar Reddy, Director of Habitat, inaugurated the housing community in accordance with traditional Hindu rites. They greeted the families personally after first unveiling a commemorative sign bearing the name of the village and honouring the founder of the Group. After the inauguration of the houses, there was an institutional reception with all the community members, local representatives and several from the Vicente Ferrer Foundation. The day ended with a symbolic ceremony that involved handing over the keys to each of the beneficiary families.
After the excitement of such a special occasion, the Chair and Vice-Chair of TM Real Estate Group expressed their hope that these houses will help the 71 families, and especially their children, to have a better quality of life and face the future with greater optimism.
This project is part of the TM Real Estate Group’s Corporate Responsibility policy and its responsible management model, showing its concern about improving access to housing for the most disadvantaged. It is in line with the Group’s commitment to the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals promoted by the United Nations, specifically the first of these, to work to eradicate poverty. This requires focussing on the most vulnerable groups, increasing access to basic services and supporting more disadvantaged communities to create a more sustainable society.
The FVF operates in the south of India through the Habitat sector, seeking solutions to eradicate poverty and ensure safe housing with basic conditions of hygiene and habitability. Over almost 50 years, around 70,000 families have benefitted from this programme. The Foundation has so far built more than 75,000 homes for more than 300,000 people, all registered in the names of the women.
