Rags2Riches (R2R) is a

social enterprise A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners. Social enterprises ca ...

that was established in 2007 and is based in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

.Arceo-Dumlao, Tina
"Rags2Riches Wins Top Prize in the International BiD Challenge"
''

Philippine Daily Inquirer The ''Philippine Daily Inquirer'' (''PDI''), or simply the ''Inquirer'', is an English-language newspaper in the Philippines. Founded in 1985, it is often regarded as the Philippines' newspaper of record. The newspaper is the most awarded bro ...

'', Philippines, 30 January 2009. Retrieved on 12 February 2012. R2R’s contributions to society lie mainly in its endeavours to alleviate

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

Payatas Payatas is a barangay located in the 2nd district of Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. Nearby barangays are Commonwealth, Batasan Hills and Bagong Silangan. History The name Payatas derived from the word ''payat sa taas'' (), which means t ...

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

.Khalsa, Dharma
"Haute Couture With a Heart"
, '' Global Envision'', Philippines, 22 August 2011. Retrieved on 12 February 2012. Statistics from the National Statistical Coordination Board of the Philippines show that Quezon City has the highest incidence of poverty in the region it lies in and the figures are also much higher than the national average.National Statistical Coordination Board
"Annual Per Capita Poverty Threshold, Poverty Incidence and Magnitude of Poor Families, by Region and Province: 1991, 2003, 2006 and 2009"
, ''

National Statistical Coordination Board The Philippine Statistics Authority (Filipino: ''Pangasiwaan ng Estadistika ng Pilipinas''), abbreviated as PSA, is the central statistical authority of the Philippine government that ''collects, compiles, analyzes and publishes statistical inf ...

'', Philippines. Retrieved on 12 February 2012. R2R works with women from these poor communities in Payatas to increase their levels of income and bring them out of poverty. A program to help achieve their mission is currently in force. The Rags2Riches Project creates income opportunities and financial security for these impoverished women. R2R assists in this by linking them and their hand-made rugs directly to retailers across the Philippines. The focuses of this program have been on the women’s ability to produce hand-made rugs, on imparting knowledge to them so that they can produce more value-added products, and on building up the confidence and solidarity among themselves. Income levels of the women have risen tremendously. Statistics from Worldsalaries.org shows that the income level of the women is comparable to other professions in the

. Worldsalaries.org
"Philippines Average Salaries and Expenditures".
'' Worldsalaries.org''. Retrieved on 12 February 2012. A potential obstacle in raising income levels to fight poverty is that help is only rendered to a handful of people due to a lack of reach. R2R assisted in the process of pushing the products made by the women into the top-end of the market. Rolex Awards for Enterprise
"Reese Fernandez"
''

Rolex Awards for Enterprise Rolex SA () is a British-founded Swiss watch designer and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex'' as the brand name of ...

''. Retrieved on 12 February 2012. The in-demand products allow for an increase in the reach of the project. The Rags2Riches Project is expected to impact 5,000 women in the next 5 years, an increase from a few hundred today.Schwartz, Ariel
"Rags2Riches Empowers Impoverished Women to Turn Recycled Scrap into Haute Couture"
''

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. History ''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan Web ...

''. Retrieved on 12 February 2012. In addition, another project will be focusing on the development and creation of new products that could be made from the rugs that the women produce. This will be done through the establishment of the R2R Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship Centre. Apart from addressing the issue of income

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

, R2R has embarked on various programs to develop the women as individuals who can function better in society. R2R has a program which imparts business and

life skills Life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable humans to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of life. This concept is also termed as psychosocial competency. The subject varies greatly depending on social norm ...

to the women. This includes areas such as

personal finance Personal finance is the financial management which an individual or a family unit performs to budget, save, and spend monetary resources over time, taking into account various financial risks and future life events. When planning personal fi ...

, health insurance and nutrition. Another project comes in the form of a compulsory savings scheme to be used for social security, education or healthcare in future. R2R has also teamed up with various organizations to influence decision-makers in the global area of

social entrepreneurship Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a wide range of o ...

, innovation and human progress. For example, R2R shared its beliefs and vision in solving global developmental issues using the World Entrepreneurship Forum Singapore 2011 as a platform.World Entrepreneurship Forum
"Speakers"
, '' World Entrepreneurship Forum'', 2011. Retrieved on 12 February 2012.

References

{{reflist " Organizations based in Metro Manila "