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.

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

The Paros Foundation has recently completed the complete reconstruction and furnishing of Suren G’s home in the border community of Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur. Suren, his wife and three young children lived in a small home that was almost too unsafe to live in.

Thanks to the support of Jean-Marie Atamian and his family, we were able to completely reconstruct and furnish this family’s home to create a safe, clean and inviting environment for his family to grow.

Thanks to another anonymous donor, we are no
increasing our matching challenge to $600,000!

Thank you to everyone who has helped contribute to our matching relief efforts! So far we have raised $222,451 which will be matched to total $444,902. As Armenians enter a new year, they are still being confronted with the overwhelming task of evacuating and surrendering lands to Azerbaijan, 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. But we can help do something about it, together!

Funds will be matched dollar for dollar up to $300,000 (by several anonymous donors who are contributing in honor of our brave fallen soldiers), for a total of $600,000. Let’s start 2021 on a positive note. 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.

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All donations made through this link will be matched up to $300,000 regardless of the amount.

Paros Foundation Project Manager, Armen Simonyan, was recently interviewed by the Public TV of Armenia 1TV news segment about our new resettlement program for displaced families from Artsakh through our Emergency Relief & Reconstruction Artsakh Fund. Watch the clip to see more of the initial stages of our resettlement program and other projects on the border!

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Here are the highlights…

• Our first priority for families to resettle are those who are interested in moving to Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur in the Tavush Region. We have selected this village as the first place to move five or six families because we have completed considerable work in this village including renovation of the school, kindergarten and medical center, water infrastructure improvements, and the launch of several nearby economic development opportunities. Soon our team will begin taking families to visit this community, after which, we will select the families.
• The stories we are hearing from these families are absolutely heartbreaking. Our team has interviewed and met with 30 families from Artsakh and are continuing the interview process. Once we have approved the families for resettlement we will share their stories.
• We have already identified and are in the process of purchasing homes in Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur and are beginning the renovation process soon.

Want to be part of the positive impact we are making for these families while doubling your impact? Consider donating to our Emergency Relief & Reconstruction – Artsakh matching donation challenge. Together we can help our brothers and sisters in Armenia and Artsakh who need it most.