Roofs for the Roofless

Under her guidance, the villagers built homes for their villages that were no longer thatched huts and even those who couldn’t afford a thatched hut previously got to finally own their own concrete homes. Over time, one house grew to 800 as Roofs for the Roofless expanded its outreach.

Savithri gifted goats to the villagers with the provision that they give away their baby goats to others via a lottery system to ensure fairness. This provided them with nutritious milk, yogurt and cheese. She created a union for the cloth weavers so they could sell their material directly without losing out to the middlemen. This increased their earnings and gave way for equal opportunity by appointing a woman as their president, which was unprecedented at that time.

Savithri noted that women with young children couldn’t go out to work. She started a Balwadi (daycare), supported by Joan Cooke from Oakville, Canada, with licenced teachers to take care of and educate little children while their parents went to work and earned money. Savithri also started a small, one-room school where village women could learn skills that helped them earn money to support their families. A much-needed seniors center, funded by the Heather Hamlin Family Trust in Canada, was also established as a place for seniors to gather socially, eat a nutritious lunch and have their medical needs attended to.

Having raised two brilliant doctors as her sons, Savithri was dismayed to note the lack of educational facilities in villages. The nearest school was over an hour away and required multiple buses to get to. Her solution was to bring the college to the village!

Thus began Dr. Chandran Devanesen Community College, a “college of second chances”, for dropouts, widows and underprivileged youth. The college teaches life skills and trains students to become nurses, beauticians, dress designers, and computer and electronics technicians. Such is the college’s fame that employers seek out graduates, and many students go on to opening their own successful businesses.

One woman’s generosity to her cook has grown into a worldwide movement to help those less fortunate.

We had the honour of visiting Roofs for the Roofless in 2025. We met young college students whose stories of incredible resilience, courage and dignity brought tears to our eyes. We noticed how cheerfully everyone worked even in the relentless heat of Chennai. Coming from Canada, where our rooms are temperature controlled, we felt that students needed cool classrooms to be able to focus on their studies. We wanted to carry on Savithri’s legacy and provide an air conditioner for every classroom. The cost of air conditioners and solar panels to power them was estimated at just $5000.

On returning to Canada, we had a very successful fundraiser where we raised over $6000 in just a few days, thanks to the generosity of people who were moved by Savithri’s selfless dedication in improving the lives of those less fortunate. The students themselves unloaded and installed the solar panels and air conditioners as a practical demonstration of their electronic skills. These panels are already generating electricity for the college while keeping bills low and classrooms are remarkably cooler.

Savithri Devanesen passed away in 2015 at the age of 99, active at Roofs until her final days. She is still remembered with love, gratitude and respect by every person whose life she touched. Her work is now carried forward by her sons Dr. Dayalan Devanesen as Director of Roofs and Dr. Sudi Devanesen as President of The Ripple Effect Wellness Organization (TREWO).

Sometimes, it just takes one person with a big dream and a big heart to make miracles happen.