Who We Are

Tuloy Foundation, Inc. is a private non-government, not-for-profit centre-based charitable social welfare agency/organization registered with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission in September 23, 1996 and licensed and accredited by the Department of Social Welfare and Development to provide residential and non-residential care services for children and youth, to provide character-building, sports and development programs for youth and finally, to provide alternative-learning and vocational training to school age kids housed in the center and kids from the surrounding depressed communities.

It was founded in 1993 by Fr. Marciano “Rocky” G. Evangelista of the Salesians of Don Bosco with ten lay volunteers committed to the cause of poor, abandoned, homeless children. It pursues the charism of St. John Bosco who dedicated himself to the care and training of poor boys in the 1800’s.

Our Founder Rev. Fr. Marciano 'Rocky' Evangelista

Our Mission vision

Children at Risk Redeemed from helplessness,  Empowered to choose right.

The street is home to an estimated one and a half million children in the Philippines, some 250,000 of them in the cities. Left in the streets to survive, they fall prey to the dangers of begging, theft, drugs, exploitation, violence, and even prostitution. Many eventually find themselves behind bars. Some lose their lives.

Tuloy offers an alternative to life in the streets. Street children choose to give up the free life in the streets for a home and second family, and education in Tuloy. They learn to embrace a life of discipline, turn away from wrongdoing, and work on their potentials to become one day productive members of society. They regain their dignity. Darkness gives way to hope – “A better life is possible.”

Our vision

We aim to be a center of excellence in the reintegration of street children into mainstream society through a comprehensive program of caring, healing, and teaching.

The program therefore involves designing and orchestrating experiences where the Children feel they are cared for, they are healed and they are developing their potentials. Consequently, they learn how to care, how to heal and how to empower others. Tuloy children live, learn, and grow in a nurturing environment where they feel safe and know that they are loved unconditionally. Letting them feel their are loved is letting them realise how much others are willing to sacrifice in order to improve their lives.

They are given time to rediscover that they are innately good persons and to unlearn wrong values and behavior. They learn new values and skills by experiencing real-life situations inside Tuloy, and participating in their own development. They are challenged to do what they can. They study, play and do house chores just like other children in homes do. They are given opportunities to express themselves in art, dance, song, sports, or practical arts such as gardening. There is never room for pity or shame just because they were once unschooled, poor street children.

The infrastructure of the Tuloy village may seem ‘luxurious’ by third-world standards for orphanages and street children homes, but it has been carefully planned and designed to enhance the healing and learning journeys Tuloy children take. By giving them more, we can also demand more from the Children in terms of their development. By living in an environment that is beautiful, clean and safe, and having a part in keeping it such, Tuloy children learn values such as beauty, cleanliness, safety, respect, responsibility, and accountability.

Tuloy is the only residential care service institution in the Philippines that has its own learning centre and vocational school for its residents with a curriculum and all the essential facilities that make it an appropriate and effective educational venue for its clientele.

As an organization, Tuloy Foundation, Inc. has a Board of Trustees and a Management Committee composed of professionals and entrepreneurs who lend their wisdom, expertise, and experience to setting and achieving the foundation’s goals.

TULOY PO!

Tuloy in Pilipino, our national language, means “welcome” and “to continue”. “Tuloy po!” can also mean “This is Tuloy!”
We started Tuloy in 1993 to rescue street children, and give them a home, direction, and the skills they will need in the real world. We had 12 children then in a 40-sqm room. Over 30 years, Tuloy has served more than 10,000 children in need. The small room is now a village on 4.5 hectares of land in southern Metro Manila. The abandoned and arid fields have metamorphosed into homes, gardens, a school, a soccer field, a chapel, and recently, a culinary arts center for the children. The village is a nurturing environment where they continue to learn and grow, and eventually transform themselves.

The task is neither simple nor easy. If we are to serve these children, we must try to answer all their needs in a way befitting their human dignity. Aside from providing for their basic needs and education, our work involves teaching them to unlearn the bad habits and behavior they developed in the streets, healing past hurts, and instilling in them discipline. We need to help them see their goodness by first showing them kindness and compassion.

We are proud of our children. Their efforts to transform themselves inspire us to do our task better everyday. They are all work in progress as they struggle to move forward and resist the temptation to slide back. We have learned from them and have been transformed ourselves.

Ours is a relevant program and a comprehensive approach designed to help keep kids off the streets for good. We are here to do the work but we need your help. Instead of making separate efforts to solve the problem of street children, let us be partners because by working together we can get better results.

Our children have an amazing potential to grow and achieve. But first, we have to give them a chance to, and we invite you to help us do just that. Your support will enable their transformation.
Please read on to learn more about Tuloy and how you can help!

Fr. Marciano “Rocky” G. Evangelista, SDB
President & Founder
Tuloy Foundation, Inc.