Since 2013, The Paros Foundation’s SERVICE Armenia program has taken young people ages 17 to 22 to Armenia for a month-long service and tour program. This year’s program will run from June 23 until July 24, 2020.

“Each year SERVICE Armenia connects young people from throughout the United States to one another and to the homeland in a meaningful and lasting way.” Said Peter Abajian, Executive Director of The Paros Foundation. “What these young people experience during this summer often times shapes their future plans and ambitions.”

In 2019, the SERVICE Armenia group worked on renovation projects at the Talin Music School in the town of Talin, the school in the village of Zorakan, the Debi Arach Children’s Center in Gyumri and at the Nor Hachn Museum in the village of Nor Hachn. In addition to these projects, the group implemented orphan excursions for children from the Yerevan Children’s Home and the Kharpert Home for Special Children. Dustin Hochmuth, a two-time past participant who launched “Groceries for Gyumri,” led it again for the second summer. SERVICE Armenia participants assembled food packets and distributed them to 50 impoverished families.

Applications are now available on The Paros Foundation’s website for SERVICE Armenia 2020 at parosfoundation.org. The program includes tours to historic, religious and cultural sites in Armenia and Artsakh, English speaking staff and guides, safe and well-located accommodations and transportation combined with interesting cultural and educational activities that will ensure all will have an engaging and memorable experience. Participants need not be of Armenian descent; the program is open to everyone. Knowledge of the Armenian language is not required. Join us and create a lifetime of great memories & friends.

The deadline to submit the completed application is April 1, 2020. Applicants are encouraged to apply early. Contact Peter Abajian at (310) 400-9061 for more information.

 

“It was an eye-opening experience walking into the domiks and seeing how people were living even 30 years after the massive earthquake. This alone has taught me to be more appreciative and grateful for the things I have, and it really has changed me for the better.”

David Bogossian
SERVICE Armenia Participant 2019

My name is Seda Melkoni and I am on a quest to help make improvements to School #8 in the City of Abovyan. More than 530 children attend this school. The entire school needs to be renovated and I have decided to partner with The Paros Foundation on this project. Here is my story…

In 2014, I traveled to Armenia for the first time to work on an American television mini-series production that would be filming in various parts of Armenia. One of the production days took place at the historic Garni Temple during the very early morning hours before the gates had opened to the public. When we wrapped production and the public was allowed entrance, I noticed several small school field trip groups arriving and one group, in particular, came all the way to the gates and after some conversation I noticed them preparing to leave, only to find out that they were not aware that there was now an entrance fee to the site and since none of the students or teachers could afford to pay, they had to leave. I offered to pay for the class, they graciously accepted and the students were able to have their field trip. The teachers requested a photo with me and the class to put up at their school in appreciation of what I thought was a very, very small gesture for such gratitude.

I kept a copy of that photo and that experience stayed with me for several years as I constantly thought about what I could do to actually make an impact for schools, particularly on the grade school level, in the areas of need outside the capital city of Yerevan.

By 2017, I had my second daughter and was further motivated to create a way for them to be inspired and connected to their Armenian culture as well as understand the value of helping others. This was also the time I joined the production planning team at Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, where I met Tatevik Torossian. As we began to work together, I shared my experience in Armenia and learned that for years, Tatevik had been sending donations of school supplies to her childhood friend who was now a teacher at a school in great need of help in the city of Abovyan. Tatevik had also attended that same school as a child. This became the foundation of the project I had been thinking about for years. My husband and I established the ELSO Foundation, named after our daughters Elena & Sofia and began the process in seeking partners for our projects, beginning with me asking Tatevik to provide the introduction to her friend the teacher.

In the fall of 2018, I met with the staff of The Paros Foundation to discuss the Abovyan School project. Their team visited the school, assessed the leaking roofs, broken windows, struggling furnace and agreed to tackle this project. Paros listed the project on their website and we began raising the necessary funds to renovate the roofs over six of the school’s buildings. By spring of this year, we had enough funds raised to change the roof on one of the buildings. The Paros team efficiently and effectively replaced the entire roof of this first building. Moving forward, I plan to continue my appeal to my family and friends to help with the other five roofs needing repair. The students and staff are anxiously awaiting the repairs to solve the school’s many leaks. I feel fortunate that I connected that morning with students at Garni and through this effort, I hope to connect others to students and the staff at School #8 in Abovyan.

Abovyan School #8

The town of Abovyan in Armenia’s Kotayk region is often referred to as the northern gateway to Yerevan because of its proximity to city (about 10 miles north.) Abovyan is home to more than 34,500 residents. More than 530 children attend School #8 in Abovyan. The school is in overall poor condition. School administrators do what they can to maintain the facility, but outside assistance is needed to dramatically improve conditions throughout this school. The roofs over the six buildings that are currently being used at the Abovyan School #8 are leaking and beyond repair. These roofs and much of the support structure beneath must be changed to help create a safe and comfortable environment for the children while they are at school. Learn more and get involved here.

Bloomfield Hills, MI—Thanks to a generous second donation to underwrite the vocational training programs at the Debi Arach Children’s Center in Gyumri from the Dr. Gary and Linda Assarian Family Foundation, Debi Arach is proud to announce the naming of this program as the Assarian Vocational Training Program.

“My wife Linda and I visited Armenia and Debi Arach and gained an understanding of the economic challenges facing people in Gyumri,” said Dr. Gary Assarian. “Our goal is to help people learn a skill and successfully gain employment. We are excited to support Paros in these innovative programs and their future plans.”

Launched in 2017 with generous support from the Assarian family, vocational training is an integral component of the Debi Arach Children’s Center, helping future generations in Gyumri work themselves out of poverty. The program launched with a high-tech focus teaching web-design and web programming to young adults. Following classroom instruction in several course subjects, students graduated into internships to obtain real world experience. More than half of the graduates are now gainfully employed and utilizing their new skills in the workplace. These classes have continued with more than 40 students to date. In August of 2019, a second focused vocational option was added to include instruction for cosmetologists, hair stylists, make up artists and manicurists. This was aimed to help young women find employment in the region and provide a much needed service to their community. An additional 24 students are enrolled in these courses.

“Since we launched the Debi Arach Children’s Center in April of 2015, the more than 200 children and young adults participating at the Center on a weekly basis are thriving,” said Peter Abajian, Executive Director of The Paros Foundation. “We are making a significant difference in the lives of these families and expanding our vocational training efforts is a natural step forward. It is a pleasure to work with the Assarian family and we have significant plans for expanding the Assarian Vocational Training Program at Debi Arach in the near future.

The Center operates six days per week and students attend the afterschool programs in two groups each three times per week. Programs are designed to take a holistic approach to addressing a poverty stricken child’s needs and help them overcome the obstacles to future success, including their humanitarian, physical and psychological needs, academic support and career planning. Debi Arach has notable successes to date beyond the vocational training programs, including reuniting children with their parents (who were leaving the children at orphanages or boarding schools), strong academic achievements, better overall health and successful career planning and job placement.

To support the Debi Arach Children’s Center or another project of The Paros Foundation, please visit www.parosfoundation.org.

Los Angeles, CA—Since the beginning of the year, Jack Youredjian and the Youredjian Family Charitable Foundation has offered major support to The Paros Foundation allocated to the move of seven families from their domiks to modern apartments in Gyumri, Armenia. Most of these people have spent their entire lives in domiks-first as children following the earthquake, and later as adults with no other economic opportunities.

“My mother, Marguerite Youredjian, spent years following the 1988 Spitak Earthquake in Gyumri helping hundreds of families who lost their homes and family members,” said Philanthropist Jack Youredjian, “my heart breaks when I see children living in these horrible conditions, and I want to do my part to try and help.”

The Paros Foundation’s Purchase a Home project has moved a total of 20 families to date, from inadequate wagons, containers and temporary shelters into clean, modern and safe apartments in Gyumri. Whenever possible, families are also given needed appliances, furniture and additional humanitarian support. Many of the families’ children also attend, or are invited to attend, the after school programs at the Debi Arach Children’s Center, which was launched by and is supported through The Paros Foundation.

“The housing crisis continues to effect more than 2,000 families in Gyumri. I commend Jack Youredjian and his family for their commitment to help children living in terrible conditions,” said Peter Abajian, Paros Foundation Executive Director. “Our program goals in Gyumri are two-fold, to help move as many families from domiks into apartments as possible; and secondly to work diligently through our programs at Debi Arach to empower many of these children to break their families’ cycle of poverty through academic success, career planning and vocational training.”

The Paros Foundation was launched in 2006 and has implemented more than $6.6 million worth of projects in Armenia through its unique model of philanthropy and community partnership. These projects are located throughout the country-with the majority of work focused in Gyumri and in the Tavush Region, along the border with Azerbaijan. Thanks to the generous support of Paros Founder and Chairman, Roger Strauch, all administrative expenses are underwritten, allowing 100% of donor contributions to be allocated in their entirety to the projects. To support this and other projects of The Paros Foundation, please visit www.parosfoundation.org.

New York, NY–Jean-Marie & Lori Atamian recently announced their sixth major gift of $100,000 to The Paros Foundation’s Prosperity on the Border Initiative.  This contribution will be used to rebuild a large two-story school building in the village of Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur (population 1,380) (“NKA”).  NKA was the most heavily shelled village on the Tavush border during the war for the liberation of Artsakh.  This third and final wing of the secondary school will house a new science classroom and laboratory, an exercise and dance studio, a home economics classroom, a wood and metal shop, a library, additional offices and classrooms and new bathrooms.

“The Atamian’s leadership on our Prosperity on the Border Initiative has helped us make more than $1 million worth of needed infrastructure economic development programs in these vital border communities,” said Peter Abajian, Executive Director of the Paros Foundation.

This investment is the latest infrastructure project underwritten by the Atamians in NKA.  Specifically, since 2013, the Atamians have financed the reconstruction of the village’s medical center, kindergarten, secondary school (3 large two-story buildings), emergency services building and water pipeline.  The Atamians have also awarded over 20 individual family agricultural and home renovation grants to improve the standard of living of numerous households.  The impressive economic progress of NKA has prompted the Atamians to make additional long-term commitments to ensure the village’s continued growth and prosperity for future generations.

Based on the success of this model village, and the generous support of our expanding base of donors, The Paros Foundation is replicating this strategic approach to rural development by undertaking these types of life changing projects in eight additional villages along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border in Armenia’s Tavush Region.

Construction at the school in NKA was launched last week with the goal of completing work on one of the two stories prior to the start of the new school year in September.

Paros Foundation launched its Prosperity on the Border initiative in 2015.  It is currently working in 11 villages throughout the Tavush region, but primarily in communities along the Armenia-Azeri border.  Thanks to the generous support of Paros Founder and Chairman, Roger Strauch, underwrites all administrative expenses, allowing100% of donor contributions are allocated in their entirety to the projects. To support this and other projects of The Paros Foundation, please visit www.parosfoundation.org.

New York, NY—Friends, family and supporters of The Paros Foundation gathered at the lovely home of Greg and Kelley Badishkanian on June 6 to rally support for the reconstruction of the kindergarten building in the border village of Varagavan in Tavush, Armenia.

“My wife, two boys and I have been to Tavush twice and are scheduled to visit again this summer,” said Greg Badishkanian, who along with his wife Kelley, hosted the event.  “We believe that prosperity in these communities helps contribute to security and are so thankful to everyone that is here supporting us and this effort tonight.”

Guests gathered on the Badishkanian’s spectacular rooftop balcony to enjoy delicious food and drink, while learning more about the work to be done in Varagavan.  To kick off this successful initiative, both the Badishkanians and Jean-Marie & Lori Atamian, pledged matching gifts, which allowed every dollar collected to be matched dollar for dollar.

“I strongly believe that it is imperative to improve conditions in communities along the Armenia – Azerbaijan border, which is why investingin Tavush through The Paros Foundation has been a top priority for my family and I.  Improving infrastructure and economic development significantly contributes to greater security for our people,” said Jean-Marie Atamian.

Varagavan is currently home to more than 700 people.  Located in an isolated area near the Armenia – Azerbaijan border in Armenia’s North East Tavush region, Varagavan’s young population is growing.  More than 50 children will be able to attend the newly renovated kindergarten once the work is completed.  The scope of work to be completed on the building is extensive. A new roof and completely new heating, plumbing and electrical systems will be installed.  This will complement a complete interior renovation of the building’s two floors.  Finally, landscaping and an outdoor patio will create an inviting space for both teachers and students alike.  As part of this project, a large multipurpose room will be created that will see usage from both the kindergarten as well as the residents of the village.  This room will facilitate meetings, gatherings, concerts and other cultural events.

The Paros Foundation has already launched reconstruction on the building beginning with the roof replacement.  Construction will continue throughout the summer and will be completed by the end of the year.  During construction, the current half-day program will continue to operate to benefit the children.

The Paros Foundation launched its Prosperity on the Border initiative in 2015.  It is currently working in 11 villages throughout the Tavush region, but primarily in communities along the Armenia-Azeri border. Thanks to the generous support of Paros Founder and Chairman, Roger Strauch, underwrites all administrative expenses, allowing100% of donor contributions are allocated in their entirety to the projects. To support this and other projects of The Paros Foundation, please visit www.parosfoundation.org.

SERVICE Armenia 2019 is filling up quickly! Only eight spaces remain in this tour, serve and play program aimed at young people 17 to 22 years of age and applications are available on The Paros Foundation website (www.parosfoundation.org). This year’s program will feature work sites in and around Yerevan, Gyumri and Zorakan.  Service work will include classroom renovations, work with orphanages and children centers, and the distribution of humanitarian supplies including the Groceries for Gyumri project (see article below). Tours will be led to major sites throughout Armenia and Artsakh and the group will live and be based from Yerevan. For more information and to reserve your space, contact Peter Abajian via email peter@parosfoundation.org or call (310) 400-9061.

   

GROCERIES FOR GYUMRI

The story of one participant’s effort to make a difference

 My name is Dustin Hochmuth and I launched Groceries for Gyumri as a project to raise money to assemble and distribute one hundred food packs to poor families in Gyumri, Armenia. I came up with the idea when, in 2017 as part of The Paros Foundation’s SERVICE Armenia 2017 program, Peter Abajian and Narine Panosian took me and a few other participants to see the living conditions of some of the residents of Gyumri. The apartment complex we were shown was in total deplorable condition and was literally falling apart, and the worst part was that ten families still live there. Later on that night at dinner, I asked Peter, “Is there anything more we can do to help these people?” SERVICE Armenia coordinator, Stephanie Nersesyan, was planning on implementing a project, so together we ended up delivering ten packs of non perishable items such as soap, pasta, and toilet paper to several families in the city. During the distribution, I met and spoke to the people living in these terrible conditions and got the opportunity to hear the families’ stories. After going on this excursion, it inspired me to come back to Armenia in 2018 and do a food drive project of my own on a larger scale.

Groceries for Gyumri was a joint idea with my mother Jeanne Papazian, who came up with the idea for the concept and the logo. After sending many emails to friends and family, we were able to raise $3,000, which was enough to fund 100 food packs. As summer rolled around, I joined the other participants for the SERVICE Armenia 2018 trip. The group went to buy all of the goods for the hundred packs from a local supermarket in person and then put them all together at the group’s house in Yerevan. Then, the group finally headed to Gyumri to do the distribution. It was a very long day consisting of delivering the packs and meeting the families and hearing each story, which felt more tragic than the last. However, also with each family the group could truly see the impact they were having on these people by the looks on their faces and their gratitude just to get some simple supplies like cooking oil, beans or bread. I am confident that this reaction from the beneficiaries registered on a very deep level with members of our group, as it demonstrated just how fortunate we are in the U.S., but also reminded us that since we are so fortunate, it is important to help out others in need and that we cannot forget that these people are our brothers and sisters.

Dustin Hochmuth will be starting the University of Southern California in the fall.  He has visited and worked in Armenia for the last two years, and will be returning this summer as well to lead his Groceries for Gyumri project once again. His collective efforts have help clothe and feed hundreds of families living in Gyumri’s domik communities.  To support Dustin’s Groceries for Gyumri project please visit www.parosfoundation.org

 

The Paros team just got back from Gyumri yesterday, where we selected three more families to be moved from “domiks” into apartments.  This makes six families we have selected and will move this month thanks to the generous support of the Jack Youredjian Family Foundation, and 17 families in total to date.  24 people including two people with disabilities, three seniors, two single moms, one soldier and 10 young children (five of which will now be kept out of boarding schools!) are moving to new apartments in the coming couple of weeks.  The process by which this program operates, and how family selections are made is something I am often asked about, and something our team often discusses, argues about and loses sleep over.  Here’s the deal–I don’t promise that this post will be fun and exciting, but I am going to try and make it informational at the least:

The Domik Problem:

There is a ton of information in our Purchase a Home projects on our site about the domiks.  Essentially, 30 years ago, following the Spitak Earthquake (about 35,000 people dead and more than 100,000 homeless), moving into empty overseas shipping containers was a good idea.  Fast forward to 2019, these temporary shelters have turned into literally a house of horrors.  Rats, wild dogs, lice add to the grief these people face.  I would estimate that 99% of these domiks do not have a normal bathroom nor bathing facilities.  Some don’t have running water.  All of them are freezing in the winter and scorching in the summer.  Gayane, who is seven years old, woke up last week in her bed from a rat attack.  She is one of the children who we are moving into a new apartment with her family.  As I said, these domiks are literally a house of horrors.

How can there still be a couple of thousand families living in these conditions, when the government says they have now provided all the families that lost homes in the earthquake an apartment?  The answer to this question is a bit complicated and best discussed over drinks.  First, the government developed a list of every family that was living in government provided housing.  These are the families that ultimately were provided new housing.  If they were living in Gyumri and paying rent, or living in a single family home, or not registered to a specific apartment, they didn’t qualify.  Secondly, through the decades, these families have grown.  It may have been the case 30 years ago that a newly married family with two small children lost their apartment.  30 years later, those children have grown up, perhaps have gotten married, and now have families of their own.  Even if that family received a two bedroom apartment because that is what they lost 30 years ago, how could three families of 10 or 12 people be expected to live in that new apartment.  In this situation, typically one or two of those families would stay in domiks and one would take the apartment.  Finally, back in the day under old leadership, there was a healthy portion of corruption when it came to rebuilding apartments, distributing new apartment and distributing apartment certificates (basically cash certificates to allow one to purchase an apartment on the free market.)  This too left many families with no housing options.

The Apartment:

When we have donor funding in place, our team hits the ground running in Gyumri and works with list.am, Gyumri real estate brokers, and searches through apartment complexes in the Mush II neighborhood for apartments for sale.  The apartments we help secure need to be free of debt and encumbrances and be eligible for resale on the free market.  We also avoid buying apartments from people who do not have a plan on where they are going to live (i.e. we don’t want to contribute to the domik problem in Gyumri.) If the apartments need to be remodeled or if the family needs some basic furniture or appliances, we try and outfit the apartment to the extent our budget permits.  In the past, we have purchased studio, one, two and three bedroom apartments for families depending on the family’s needs.

The Purchase Process:

At the time of contract signing, we bring the entire family to the State Notary Service to have them sign the Purchase Contract with the Seller (nope, no escrow service in Armenia yet!)  We provide the stack of cash to the purchasing family, and they then slide it across the table to the sellers.  The Notary verifies the transaction and the beneficiary family is now legal owner of the new apartment.  At the same sitting, the beneficiary family signs a gift agreement with The Paros Foundation that indicates they are obliged to live in their new apartment until their youngest child turns 18 or for 10 years (whichever is longer.)  They cannot rent, sell or live elsewhere without our permission, or we can take the apartment away from them.  Our goal with this is to ensure a new start for this family.  Secondly, the family agrees to give us their old domik so our friends at the Shirak Center can tear it down and make certain no onewill ever live in those unbearable conditions again.  Then, we help submit the signed purchase contract to the State Cadastre so the family can pick up their new deed in a few days.  Once this is completed, our Shirak Center friends help move the family into their new apartment and the domik tear down begins.

The Family Selection Process:

Family selection is the tough part of this process.  We are not playing God, but sometimes it feels like we are.  How can you look at someone living in a trash heap with rats and pass that family over for another?  It is tough and I think some of my white hair is because of this project.  O.K.  Here is the process we follow.  First, we depend on advice and guidance from Vahan Tumasyan at the Shirak Center NGO.  He is the expert in Gyumri on these families.  Together, with Vahan and our Paros colleagues, we have probably been in 200+ domiks in Gyumri over the last five years. Some of these visits have been to help distribute firewood or food through our other humanitarian projects in Gyumri. Second, we sometimes depend on direction from a donor.  Sometimes we are asked to find a family with lots of children to move; and sometimes, the decision is left to us.  Vahan typically helps us line up several families to visit so we can vet and shorten the list.

Here are a couple of guidelines we follow:  First, the family has to be willing to surrender their domik to us so we can tear it down.  If they won’t, then we pass them over.  It is hard to believe, but it has happened.  Second, the family has to be trying at some level to work or care for themselves, rather than sitting around waiting for handouts.  I know this sounds harsh, but if you have two families with three kids each, which are you going to support?  The family who’s mother picks potatoes seasonally and the dad that collects recyclables to buy his family bread? Or the family with the mom and dad that sit at home and say there is no work to be found?  Third, while visiting families, we look for signs that they can be successful in their new apartments.  If their domik is as clean as the conditions permit, this is an indication that they would care for their apartment in a similar fashion.  If things in their domik are organized, this again is a potential indicator of future success.  The same indicators exist and stand out with the relationship between the parent or parents and their children.  If there is any indication that there is a strong tie to education for their children, this too helps in our vetting process.  Finally, the family has to have some income to be able to pay the bills in their new apartment.  This income can be pensions, salary, support from family outside of Armenia, etc.  The realities of what these people go through on a daily basis have distorted their family situations to an extreme.  Our goal again, is to provide a beneficiary family with a home so that their family would be successful in living what one might call a more normal life.

In closing, I think it is important to state as part of this last trip to Gyumri, we visited several of the families that have previously benefited from our Purchase A Home project and they were all doing great!  It was absolutely wonderful seeing families and children that looked well, apartments that were clean and so many smiles.  A great big thanks to everyone that has supported this life changing project in the past.

 

 

Meet Joe Chelebian!  Joe is 16 and lives in the Los Angeles area.  To help his fellow Armenians, Joe decided to launch a charity drive to raise funds and dental hygiene products from his community at St. James Armenian Church in Los Angeles.  This effort will be benefiting the Mobile Dental Clinic and the Apelian Dental Clinic at the Prkutyun Center in Armenia, both projects of The Paros Foundation.

Joe’s effort successfully raised $3,974.  Beyond these funds, which will be used to support dental screenings for almost 625 children, 2,500 toothbrushes were donated, 1,200 tubes of toothpaste were collected and almost one mile of dental floss!

Thank you Joe and the St. James Armenian Church family for your support of this important effort!

Yerevan, Armenia—The Paros Foundation is excited to announce that students from the Ghoghanj Children’s Center Arm-math Robotics program took first place in the Armenia’s nationwideUnion of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE) 3-D Modeling contest.  Seventy teams from throughout Armenia and Artsakh entered the contest.  Of these teams, 38 were selected to advance to the finals, including teams from the Debi Arach Children’s Center and the Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur School.  The Paros Foundation is the primary sponsor of both the Ghoghanj and Debi Arach Children Centers.  Paros has also renovated the Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur School including their computer and robotics classrooms. The team from Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur received honorable mention in the Historical Monuments category for their 3-D model of the church in Berd.

“I am very proud of my student’s accomplishments.  Since we began teaching our Arm-math curriculum at Ghoghanj three years ago, I have witnessed the manner in which our students have engaged and understand engineering technology,” said Diana Grigoryan, Executive Director of the Ghoghanj Children’s Center.

“It is very exciting to see three of the organizations we support achieving such high accolades in this impressive competition,” said Peter Abajian, Executive Director of The Paros Foundation. “We congratulate the students and teachers for this outstanding accomplishment, and the donors to these organizations for their vision and on-going support.”

The Ghoghanj Children’s Center operates two locations in Yerevan’s downtown and Nork communities. The center’s students are defined as at-risk, with most of the children coming from economically challenged families. The Debi Arach Children’s Center operates in Gyumri and works primarily with children from impoverished families living in domiks and inadequate housing.  The village of Nerkin Karmir Aghpyur is located in the isolated and often dangerous Berd community of Armenia’s Tavush Region.

For more information about these organizations or The Paros Foundation, please visit www.parosfoundation.org or call (310) 400-9061.