St. Mary's Social Service Association, after much study, discussions, and several interactions has categorized six sections of the human population living in the city slums and remote rural areas of Tiruchirappalli, Tuticorin (V.O.C) and Kanyakumari Districts, State of Tamil Nadu. These deprived, exploited and underprivileged people, due to their widespread illiteracy and ignorance, resulting in utter poverty and inhuman living conditions, will be our priority at St. Mary’s Social Service Association. (SMSSA)
Mr. A. Xavier Mathew M.A., President of St. Mary's Social Service Association has started the organization in 1992 with the group of people and we are able to achieve the desired result by the continuous support from various resources.
Rev.Fr. Hermanagild Jayachandra, S.T.D., Parish Priest of St. Martin de Porres Church, Boulder, USA, also the advisor of SMSSA has been supporting us for more than 5 years and he is very pleased with the work we do for the poor.
St. Mary's Social Service Association has established a Tailoring and Embroidery Institute whose students are recruited from financially backward communities. They are trained to sew all kinds of clothes used by kids, boys and girls, young and old people, and are also trained in embroidery. Upon completion of the training, the students are confident enough to venture into self-employment. Our Tailoring Institute has received several awards for its excellent quality of graduates.
This Association also gives training to young women in different Computer courses where they are taught the Microsoft Office, DTP (Desktop Publishing), Tally (Accounting package) etc. Other training for young men and women is available in the field of screen printing, photo lamination, book binding, making paper bags and candle sticks, etc. We also counsel them on how to start their own small scale industry and the ways and means of marketing their products. The youth are advised to utilize the subsidiaries and aids granted by the Government under a self-employment program and are further instructed on how to prepare project work in order to get a loan for being self-employed.
Everyday we provide breakfast for 50 children, between the ages 3 and 5, from the slums. We also provide educational aids like school fees, note books, stationeries, uniform clothes etc for more than 50 childrens ages 6 to 18. This helps them to continue their basic formal education without having to drop out mid way through and without putting any financial strain to the poor parents who cannot afford to pay.
Poverty, due to unemployment, is the root cause of all problems in India, where many young men and women are unemployed today. We want to teach them: "LEARN A SKILL, LIVE IN PEACE".
We conduct a SELF IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM for young men and women to inculcate in them the right attitude towards life. We take care to install in them high ideals like discipline, self confidence, dignity of labor, cooperative spirit, collective responsibility, commitment to duty and other values crucial to the development of the individual as a whole. Once a year we conduct seminars for ENTREPRENEURS. We give useful information in these workshops on employment opportunities.
To foster patriotism, religious harmony and peaceful coexistence, we celebrate Christmas, Independence Day and Gandhi Jayanthi by conducting religious harmony meetings, oratorical contests and cultural programs for school children. We distribute books, notebooks and school uniforms to the needy children free of cost and, during Christmas and Easter; we also distribute clothes to the poor.
Owing to so much advancement in medical science, the number of people living to old age is increasing day by day, and with it, their problems are also increasing. Many old-age-homes have cropped up and with this in mind, we help train older people how to cope emotionally, to face their old age, by conducting a PLEASANT OLD AGE workshop once a month. Old people are the treasures of the family, and are indispensable roots of the nation and no old person wants to be a burden to anyone. Less expectation means less disappointment so one can experience the fullness of life, including physical health, and mental attitude. Inter-personal relationships during old age, generation-gap awareness etc. are some of the topics on which we invite experts to conduct seminars and workshops for the elderly. Many older people who take part in these workshops have profited immensely.
St. Mary's Social Service Association has always shown an interest on hygiene of the environment. The sick and the disabled are visited by us and shown ways to keep the environment clean. It also provides financial assistance to orphans, widows, physically handicapped, lepers and aged people who seek financial assistance from the society. Further, we conduct a Medical camp, Free Eye Treatment Camp, and, from time to time, an Aids Awareness Camp.
St. Mary's Social Service Association has established a Tailoring and Embroidery Institute whose students are recruited from financially backward communities. They are trained to sew all kinds of clothes used by kids, boys and girls, young and old people, and are also trained in embroidery. Upon completion of the training, the students are confident enough to venture into self-employment. Our Tailoring Institute has received several awards for its excellent quality of graduates. 
Everyday we provide breakfast for 50 children, between the ages 3 and 5, from the slums. We also provide educational aids like school fees, note books, stationeries, uniform clothes etc for more than 50 childrens ages 6 to 18. This helps them to continue their basic formal education without having to drop out mid way through and without putting any financial strain to the poor parents who cannot afford to pay.
We conduct a SELF IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM for young men and women to inculcate in them the right attitude towards life. We take care to install in them high ideals like discipline, self confidence, dignity of labor, cooperative spirit, collective responsibility, commitment to duty and other values crucial to the development of the individual as a whole. Once a year we conduct seminars for ENTREPRENEURS. We give useful information in these workshops on employment opportunities.