March 29 ushered in a new chapter in the lives of the Yesayan Family. Family, friends and fellow villagers joined the Armenian Resettlement Coalition partner organizations as they cut the ribbon to this family’s new home in the village of Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur. Arkadi, his wife Lusine, and five children evacuated from Yeritsvank, in the Kashatagh Region, which is currently under Azeri control.

“On behalf of the Berd Consolidated Communities, we wish to welcome the Yesayan Family to our community and wish them much success and prosperity. I would like to thank the ARC, its coalition partners and their sponsors for making this possible for our Artsakh brothers and sisters.” -Harutyun Manucharyan Head of the Berd Consolidated Communities

Following the ribbon cutting ceremony, leaders from ARC partner organizations toured the other homes currently under construction. Four additional families have been selected as project beneficiaries and their home reconstruction is nearing completion. Discussions are taking place with approved family members regarding economic opportunity including agribusinesses. School and village leaders in Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur are engaged and preparing to welcome this new influx of people into their community. ARC expects to move the next two families into their new homes by the end of May.

By addressing the critical issue of resettlement in this complete and comprehensive manner, ARC’s beneficiary families will have the greatest chance for success in their new communities. The budget for one family resettlement is $37,500 and ARC partners have committed a total of $300,000 to resettle the first eight families. Focus on Children Now (FCN), Sahman NGO, Teach For Armenia and The Paros Foundation formed the Armenian Resettlement Coalition (ARC) to address the thousands of Armenian families displaced from the Artsakh war that wish to permanently remain in Armenia. Each of ARC’s partner organizations address and support an important aspect of this complete restart for these families in Armenia.

“Each coalition partner brings their best assets to this important project to help ensure its success,” said Karine Aboulian, Focus on Children Now’s co-founder. “By working together we are stronger!”

ARC Partner Organization Responsibilities
The Paros Foundation is financially responsible for purchasing homes, home renovations and its staff to identify and screen families for resettlement. Sahman NGO, will finance, design and implement a significant economic support effort to enable each family to successfully generate enough income to support themselves. Focus on Children Now (FCN) will completely furnish the family home including major appliances and will supplement each of the family’s children with a three-month nutrition plan. In addition, FCN will underwrite the tuition of all kindergarten-aged children to attend school and secure the benefit of early education. Teach For Armenia will provide each school-aged child a computer tablet and internet connection. In addition, Teach For Armenia’s Emergency Education Program will work directly with school leadership to provide additional educational and psychological support for these children as part of their community transition and integration. Coalition partners will offer final approvals for all aspects of the complete package for each family.

We are hard at work to keep connecting families to their new homes. Here is a preview of the second family to receive a home through our program. Follow along on our social media pages for continuous updates!

Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur, Armenia – In 2012, the family of Jean-Marie Atamian, in working through The Paros Foundation’s Prosperity on the Border Initiative, initiated a systematic and comprehensive investment program to rebuild the infrastructure and housing stock of this important border village with a growing population of over 1,100 residents located in the Berd area of Armenia’s Tavush Region. Over the course of the last few decades, this key strategic village has suffered from Azeri shelling and a lack of investment, creating both dangerous and difficult living conditions.

Ghukas A. holds one of his grandchildren. Soon they will enjoy a newly rebuilt home to prosper in for years to come.

The first phases of the Atamian family’s redevelopment plan were to finance the complete reconstruction of the village’s infrastructure including, but not limited to, its large secondary school, expanded kindergarten, medical center, emergency services building and water distribution system. Several families have also benefited from agribusiness and animal husbandry projects.

Having completed the rebuilding of NKA’s infrastructure, the Atamian family is currently focused on the large-scale reconstruction of severely damaged houses to provide quality and secure homes for deserving families. In the past two years, seven houses were rebuilt. Most recently, the village celebrated the opening of two completely rebuilt homes, one for the village nurse (Emma A.) and the other house for the family of Suren G., who repatriated to the village with his wife and their three young children and serves in the local police force.

The eighth major house reconstruction project will benefit the family of Ghukas A. Ghukas is a hard-working villager whose family of seven includes two sons who serve in the military defending our borders. One of his sons has an infant. The family’s current house is uninhabitable and requires a complete reconstruction and expansion of its existing living space to accommodate this large and growing family. Once completed, the house will be provided with new furniture, kitchen appliances and a bathroom. The anticipated cost of the project is $30,000. At least three additional families will be the beneficiaries of this program in the coming year.

In addition to providing families with dramatically improved living conditions, these projects have created material benefits to the local economy by providing numerous long-term construction jobs and promoting the purchase of furniture and materials manufactured in Armenia.

The Atamian family acknowledges the generous support of the Strauch Kulhanjian family, who underwrites the administrative expenses of The Paros Foundation, allowing 100% of donor contributions to be allocated in their entirety to the sponsored projects.

Tavush, Armenia–Children in the Tavush border communities of Achajur and Varagavan now benefit from newly renovated and expanded kindergartens. These important projects were implemented through The Paros Foundation’s Prosperity on the Border initiative over the course of the last 18 months.

In the village of Achajur, an overcrowded kindergarten meant that almost 100 children that were of kindergarten age were unable to attend and receive the benefits of early education. To address this need, The Paros Foundation agreed to completely reconfigure and reconstruct the second floor of the large building that houses the kindergarten. A new dining room and three large classrooms to accommodate the addition of these new children we successfully added. The rebuild included a more powerful heating system for the entire kindergarten, new bathrooms, new windows, and work to the exterior of the building. Work on the kindergarten at Achajur was made possible through the generous support of benefactors Ara and Valarie Cherchian.

In the village of Varagavan, only one small portion of the building that housed the village kindergarten was able to be used for a partial day program for 19 children in the village. A total of more than 40 children are of kindergarten and preschool age, but none of the children in this community were able to fully benefit from a full day early education program. This large, two story building needed a complete rebuild including roof, water, electrical, sewer and gas systems. New windows, doors, stairs, flooring and kitchens and bathrooms were installed as part of The Paros Foundation’s Prosperity on the Border initiative. Work on the kindergarten at Varagavan was made possible through donations received primarily from the “Cocktails on the Terrace” fundraiser generously sponsored by Gregory and Kelley Badishkanian at their home. To view a video of the Varagavan Kindergarten, please visit www.parosfoundation.org and search for Varagavan Kindergarten.

Focus on Children Now partnered on both of these kindergarten projects to provide high quality playgrounds and furniture for the children.

“The effects of the July attacks, Covid 19 and the Artsakh War have weighed heavily on the children in these communities,” said Peter Abajian, Executive Director of The Paros Foundation. “Returning to beautifully renovated, safe and inviting kindergartens will dramatically improve these communities return to in-person education and significantly benefit these important villages and their residents in the long-run.”

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We are in awe of the generosity that our community has shown towards our fundraising efforts! So far we have raised $240,968, which will be matched to total $481,936. As 2021 continues Armenians are still being confronted with the overwhelming task of providing assistance and securing housing for more than 100,000 refugees from Artsakh, and repairing damages in both Armenia and Artsakh from these brutal attacks. At the moment we have over 80 applicants as potential resettlement candidates. Our team is currently interviewing the families, and they will continue down the list in the coming days. With your donation we can ease the immense burden for these families.

Funds will be matched dollar for dollar up to $350,000 (by several anonymous donors who are contributing in honor of our brave fallen soldiers), for a total of $700,000. Let’s continue supporting our brothers and sisters in Armenia during this difficult time. Please help us meet this challenge.

Frequently visit the Emergency Relief and Reconstruction Artsakh project on The Paros Foundation website for updates, and follow us on social media. All donations made through this link will be matched up to $350,000 regardless of the amount. Please visit our website to donate or mail checks to the following address with a note saying “challenge grant”:

The Paros Foundation
2217 5th Street
Berkeley, CA 94710