Group Home For Orphans with Disabilities
Description
Warm Hearth was started to provide an alternative to the psychiatric institutions. We are the first long-term group home in Armenia and the only one to serve orphans with disabilities or mental illnesses.
“Warm Hearth is not a project; it’s a home,” says founder, “that’s sustained by the faces of our residents and the harsh fate that awaited them if something was not done.” We serve Armenian orphans with disabilities who were destined for the psychiatric institutions. We believe they deserve basic human rights and this means a loving home and a life of dignity. Our group homes are long-term and address the challenge of having a disability and being orphaned in Armenia.
We operate a safe & loving group home for thirteen residents with disabilities, which reduces instances of human rights abuses in psychiatric institutions and increases our residents’ rights through integration. Our staff provides care that encourages residents toward independence, offers rehabilitation and is holistic.
The Warm Hearth center has an immediate need for funding to provide transportation to enable their residents to able to attend vocational training. Â Classes will include tailoring, jewelry making and carpet weaving. The ability to attend these vocational courses will provide the residents with theraputic benefits and the chance to acquire new skills with the hope of employment.Â
Region
City / Village
Start Date
End Date
Thank you to all our donors, we have met our fundraising goal.
Gallery Images
The Need
Orphans with disabilities in Armenia are one of the most forgotten and vulnerable groups of people due to the stigmas associated with having a disability and the lack of resources and programs to care for them. Orphans who are over the age of 18 and have outgrown the orphanages are in even greater need due to the fact that there is no infrastructure in place to meet their needs. The only option available to these individuals is the former Soviet psychiatric institutions that do not focus on rehabilitation or holistic care.
Short Term Impact
The project provides a home-life for 13 residents, allowing them to live outside institutions. It’s a model for community-based care and a pilot project for moving away from institutionalization. In the short term, funds from this project will allow for residents to be transported into community settings.
Long Term Impact
The longer term impact of this project will be the expanded capacity at which Warm Hearth operates that will benefit future residents, allowing them to continue living in this family environment as their physical and/or developmental conditions change. This group home model will continue to serve as a example of non-institutional living for people with disabilities.
Sponsors Benefits
All sponsors will be listed both on the Warm Hearth and Paros Foundation websites. Visits to the Warm Hearth group home will be arranged for sponsors visiting Armenia.
Kassarjian Family
Armenia March 14, 2014Mr. & Mrs. Varujan & Tatiana Mardirosian
San Rafael, CA March 14, 2014Catherine & Lauren Conrow
Ross, CA December 30, 2013Kassarjian Family
Armenia March 14, 2014Mr. & Mrs. Varujan & Tatiana Mardirosian
San Rafael, CA March 14, 2014Catherine & Lauren Conrow
Ross, CA December 30, 2013Residents are now taken on regular trips to both historic sites and other public venues.