The Berd Consolidated Community is located in an isolated part of Armenia’s North-East Tavush region.  More than half of the villages in this community have a mutual border with Azerbaijan, thus adding to the difficulties in these towns and villages.

In an effort to try and control the spread of the Covid-19 Virus, the government of Armenia made the difficult decision to issue a strong stay-at-home order for the entire country.  This directive creates a very difficult situation for the elderly and other higher risk people.  The head of Berd Consolidated Community, Harutyun Manucharyan, launched an effort to provide food staples to the elderly and others at high-risk.  He turned to The Paros Foundation for help to reach 800 of the most vulnerable in his community.

Food packs will cost $10 each and are designed to provide basic staples including flour, sugar, buckwheat, coffee, oil, tea and other essentials that should last these people about 10 days.  We anticipate food packages like these to be delivered twice in the coming weeks for these people.  Staff from The Paros Foundation will connect directly with food suppliers in Armenia and order the food staples and have them delivered to the city of Berd, where the municipality staff will assemble and distribute the packs to the recipients.

My Forest Armenia has partnered with The Paros Foundation for this environmental  project. Their main objective it to plant 400.000 trees per year, or about 160 hectares of new forest every year with a mission to help decrease carbon in the atmosphere, sustainably increase forest coverage and preserve biodiversity using numerous endemic species. My Forest Armenia is growing seedlings ready for planting in its nurseries. This project is a reforestation plan of 20 hectares (50 acres) in a degraded area within the Dilijan National Park in the Tavush region. The forest has become degraded in the last 25 years because of illegal logging but mainly because of cow grazing in the pastures nearby. Villagers let their animals enter protected areas of the park and the undergrowth cannot regenerate. The most important part of the project therefore is to put a fence to protect the national park area. We will plant various endemic tree species so as to maintain the rich biodiversity of the park, mainly oak, beech, pine, birch, etc. Density will be 2,000 trees per hectare (800 trees per acre).

Reducing CO2 in the atmosphere is crucial to reduce global warming, planting trees is the best way to achieve this. At 11.2%, Armenia needs desperately to increase its forest coverage (as a comparison, forest coverage in the US is 34%). One cannot stress enough how forests are vitally important for any country, as it lowers temperatures, increase humidity, stops desertification, preserves bio-diversity and so much more. Further, many regions of Armenia are still quite poor. Reforestation in remote regions of Armenia will provide local villagers with a steady income and alleviate poverty.

By planting 30,000 trees and restore 20 hectares of forest, this project will achieve three objectives: reduce CO2 in the atmosphere, restore a beautiful forest area in the Dilijan National Park and, because we are hiring local workers from rural areas to work on the project, we will increase employment and improve the economic conditions in some of the poorest regions of Armenia.

More than 1,200 children live in Armenia’s 15 orphanages. These facilities provide for the children’s basic needs, but their limited budgets do not allow these children to participate in visits to popular historical sites, an amusement park or concert, or attend a cultural event.

Armenia’s orphan children should have the opportunity to experience popular cultural events, exhibits, and excursions in Armenia, or simply have a fun afternoon or activity that they normally would not be able to experience. Many different activities and excursions can be organized for these children. The extent of the activity or trip is directly related to the sponsorship amount. For sponsorships amounts between $250 -$750 approximately 20 children and an appropriate number of chaperons will be able participate in a memorable activity. Please consider supporting multiple excursions for these children.

The Paros Foundation staff and volunteers will organize and oversee the excursion/activity. Opportunities to sponsor excursions for orphanages serving both disabled and non-disabled children exist. Whenever possible, our staff will work with the destination for the excursion to secure group pricing and/or discounts.

The Paros Foundation established the Debi Arach Children’s Center in Gyumri, Armenia on April 15, 2015 with the help of generous donors. The center, which provides 175 children each week the necessary academic, psychological, social and humanitarian support, has since been a source of positivity in this city. The residents of Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city, have endured very devastating realities since the tragic 1988 Spitak Earthquake. More than 100,000 residents were left homeless, and plagued with unemployment and rampant poverty for years to come. In turn, the fate of children in Gyumri has also been affected. Dealing with the difficulty of finding means to feed and care for their families, many parents are unable to provide their children with the proper guidance, supervision, educational aid and the financial resources for them to excel in school and have successful futures. Furthermore, freezing temperatures and extreme poverty have created humanitarian crisis in Gyumri as well.

One very important need, especially during the winter, is winter coats. Sponsorship towards this effort will ensure that 175 children attending the Debi Arach Children’s Center will receive new warm winter coats in the late fall of 2020. With warm winter coats these children will be able to stay healthy, and be able to continue to attend school.

Dental hygiene is commonly overlooked in poverty-stricken regions around the world, including Armenia, for the obvious fact that the population has more pressing concerns such as securing everyday necessities like food, shelter and clothing. In the light of all these hardships, brushing one’s teeth for two minutes, twice a day seems trivial and indeed insignificant.

The Healthy Teeth Project aims to make oral hygiene and health attainable for children living in poverty stricken areas throughout Armenia. Through this project The Paros Foundation, along with supporters and volunteers, hopes to raise awareness about the importance of promoting good dental hygiene in Armenian children. Furthermore, through this effort we hope to prevent more extensive dental problems, which would cause more serious health issues in the future.

The Healthy Teeth project was launched in 2013. Since then over 15,000 items, including toothbrushes, toothpastes, mouthwash and dental floss, have been distributed throughout Armenia and Artsakh.

Joe Chelebian, an Armenian-American from Los Angeles and SERVICE Armenia 2019 participant, will be spearheading this effort for the second year. Joe will launch a charity drive to raise funds and dental hygiene products (including toothpaste, toothbrushes and floss) from his community at St. James Armenian Church in Los Angeles. He hopes to return to Armenia this summer, to help distribute the items throughout Armenia.

The Packs on Backs initiative, was started by the The Heros Humanitarian Foundation (HHF), a former Los Angeles based non-profit organization that supported children in need and their educational advancement. HHF partnered with The Paros Foundation to bring their Packs on Backs initiative to Armenia, and together successfully distributed 380 backpacks and school supplies to children in Gyumri and Vanadzor in the summer of 2015 and 225 backpacks to the children at the Kharpert Children’s Home in the summer of 2016. Since then, the Packs on Backs initiative continues to impact the lives of children in need in Armenia with this essential need.

Our next distribution will be for the kids attending the Debi Arach Children’s Center in Gyumri. Socially vulnerable children attend the center after their school and receive both humanitarian and educational support through a holistic approach. The Paros Foundation established the Debi Arach Children’s Center on April 15, 2015 and has since provided children each week the necessary academic, psychological, social and humanitarian support they need to succeed. Gyumri’s devastating history has left more than 100,000 residents homeless, and plagued with unemployment and rampant poverty. These families often struggle to provide their children with life’s basic necessities; therefore making backpacks and school supplies a distant priority. Children at the center were recipients of backpacks and school supplies during our first distribution in 2015. This distribution will meet the ongoing needs of both current and new children. Our goal is to provide 30 new attendees with new backpacks and school supplies and replenish the school supplies for 180 children who already have backpacks. A donation of $30 will help obtain one backpack filled with supplies for one child. School supplies will be grade appropriate and include a combination of pencils, pens, pencil cases, notebooks, folders, erasers, sharpeners, glue, scissors, rulers, highlighters, and crayons. In-kind donations of the items listed are also welcomed.

The Kharpert Home for Special Children is an orphanage located in the village of Nor Kharpert serving more than 250 children with varying degrees of developmental disabilities. The orphanage is a state run facility that receives governmental support to provide these vulnerable children with basic care and education.

Excursions to amusement parks and/or other appropriate venues provide these children with both valuable community experience and needed recreation. Children with disabilities in Armenia are generally kept sheltered from society. These children do not attend school, but rather attend classes at the orphanage. It is important for both these children and society that they experience community life.

For each donation of $250, approximately 20 children and an appropriate number of care provides will be able to go on an excursion to Yerevan at Victory Park, or another appropriate venue for a morning or afternoon of activities including transportation, admission and snacks. Please consider supporting multiple excursions for these children.

The Kharpert Home for Special Children is an orphanage located in the village of Nor Kharpert serving more than 250 children with varying degrees of developmental disabilities. The orphanage is a state run facility that receives governmental support to provide these vulnerable children with basic care and education.

Excursions to amusement parks and/or other appropriate venues provide these children with both valuable community experience and needed recreation. Children with disabilities in Armenia are generally kept sheltered from society. These children do not attend school, but rather attend classes at the orphanage. It is important for both these children and society that they experience community life.

For each donation of $250, approximately 20 children and an appropriate number of care provides will be able to go on an excursion to Yerevan at Victory Park, or another appropriate venue for a morning or afternoon of activities including transportation, admission and snacks. Please consider supporting multiple excursions for these children.

Verin Getashen is a large village located just southwest of Lake Sevan.  The village was founded in the early 1800s by migrants from Mush and Alashkert in present day Eastern Turkey.  Almost 5,000 people call Verin Getashen their home.  More than 300 children attend the school, which is in poor condition.  Major needs of the school including replacing the roof, windows and heating system will be addressed as funds become available for this project.

Following the 1988 Spitak Earthquake, tens of thousands of people were left homeless in the City of Gyumri. Many of these families took refuge in the overseas shipping containers (domiks) that were shipped into Armenia loaded with humanitarian relief supplies, or in condemned buildings. An entire generation of children has grown up in deplorable conditions, often times with no running water and little or no heat. The Armenian government has provided most of the families that lost their homes in the Earthquake with new housing units.

As people moved out of those makeshift housing units, others moved in. The 2,500 or so families that remain are Gyumri’s desolate families, who are not in line to receive a government provided apartment. Many of these families are comprised of single mothers, multiple children and/or the disabled.

This project will identify suitable needy families who can be moved into a new apartment and can demonstrate that they can afford their monthly utilities, etc. This is a sustainable model in that families that have been moved into permanent housing in the past have had a high degree of success maintaining their families and their new homes.

Once the move is complete, the make shift housing unit will be destroyed to prevent its future occupancy.