The Ghoghanj Children’s Center located in the Kentron of Yerevan provides afterschool and summer school programs for approximately 85 children every month. Children who attend the Center are loosely defined as “at risk.” These children typically come from very poor households, often times with a single head of household, who cannot pay for such assistance. The goal of the Ghoghanj Children’s Center is to provide the necessary academic, psychological and social support to ensure that the children attending mature to well adjusted, successful, young adults.

In order to further impact more “at-risk” children, the Center has identified a need for this model to be replicated and offered to other communities in Armenia. Through the generous support of the Dadourian Foundation, a second center for “at-risk” children was opened in 2014 in the Nor Nork neighborhood of Yerevan to provide support to 85 additional children annually. The new center has provided students the same core classes daily (English, Russian, Computer, Design, Painting, Theater and Dance) as the Ghoghanj Children’s Center – Kentron. The goal of this project is to broaden the services offered to socially vulnerable children and families in other communities and provide them with the proper support and guidance needed to excel in school and become self-confident and respectful young adults.

Amount will include rent, utilities, teacher salaries, maintenance and additional improvements, and supplies.

The Paros Foundation launched the Debi Arach Children’s Center in Gyumri, Armenia on April 15, 2015 with the help of generous donors. The center, which provides 185 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. The Debi Arach Children’s Center, which in Armenian means “moving forward,” helps these socially vulnerable children through a holistic approach providing them with both humanitarian and educational support. The center provides counseling and group therapy with a psychologist on staff, homework help and tutoring for almost every subject the children learn in school including English, Math, Art/Design, and Computer classes. Additionally, they are served a nutritious meal everyday, helping them receive the calories and/or nutrients they would otherwise not have. Furthermore, the Center addresses a very important hygienic need by providing the children in attendance with supervised bathing facilities. The goal is to help hundreds of children develop a vision for a successful future, and to give them the skills they need to reach these goals. This project is impacting the lives of hundreds of socially vulnerable children by helping them gain the guidance and support they need in order to create greater future opportunities, and become successful individuals and good citizens.

To date, the center has already had several important successes. At least nine children have been taken out of boarding schools, attend our center and now live back at home with their families. Many of the children who were receiving poor grades in school are now achieving top scores. The children have become socially well adjusted and much more healthier than before with the continued consumption of multi-vitamins and a daily well-balanced meal. Staff trainings take place with an academic counsel of professionals from the United States and Armenia to ensure that the children are receiving the best care, treatment and methods for their development.

The center is working on funding year nine and raising additional funds in order to develop and add to the programs and classes offered with the ability to hire more educators, and get more supplies, and equipment. Funds will also be used to supplement daily activities, hold forums for guest speakers and provide educational and career planning opportunities. $92,000 is needed to cover operating costs for the Center. In January of 2017, Debi Arach successfully launched its first program within its Vocational Training Center, teaching children computer programming, 3d printing and robotics curriculum. The goal of this newest component is to provide these children with marketable job skills in order to help them work themselves out of poverty. In 2019, with the long term commitment by Dr. & Mrs. Gary and Linda Assarian (MI) the vocational training program was renamed the Assarian Vocational Training Program

Representatives of The Paros Foundation have visited more than 100 schools throughout Armenia. While some schools have either been renovated thanks to the Armenian government or as a result of the generosity of international donors, many remain in deplorable conditions and have little hope of being renovated in the near future. These conditions affect both the ability for students to learn, as well as the health of students and teachers. How is a student supposed to learn if there are not proper desks, chairs or windows in the classroom?

The Paros Foundation will directly oversee the renovation of a classroom in the Nor Ughi  Village School. Nor Ughi Village is located in Armenia’s Ararat Region. Almost 2,000 people call Nor Ughi and neighboring Ginevet Village their home. Many in these villages are employed at Vedi Alcohol factory or are engaged in agricultural activities.

162 students attend the village school from both the neighboring village of Ginevet and Nor Ughi, which is in overall poor condition. Portions of the school have been modestly renovated using the school’s annual budget.

Currently, we will be raising funds to renovate one classroom including new doors, flooring, lighting, ceiling, paint and new furniture. 

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, amusement parks, concerts, or attend cultural events.

Armenia’s orphan children should have the opportunity to experience popular cultural events, exhibits, and excursions. 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 sponsorship amounts between $300 -$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.

ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN

In light of the recent influx of displaced individuals from Artsakh, we have launched free-of-charge recurring activities for displaced boys and girls in several cities throughout Armenia. Children often carry the heavy burden of trauma, much like a backpack filled with their past experiences and struggles. Our mission is to provide them with safe, nurturing spaces where they can temporarily set aside these burdens and step onto the playing field. Here, they have the opportunity to play, prioritize their health, and acquire essential coping mechanisms and life skills to address their trauma.

Join us today, and support our efforts of ensuring our kids have a safe place to disconnect from the ugly reality that is forced upon them.

We are working with a number of sports schools and facilities across Armenia. They are ready to provide after-school programming for children from Artsakh free of charge. Most of them lack the sports gear necessary to do so. With your donations and support we will be providing them with basketballs, footballs, and other sport essentials to be able to conduct these activities.

Your contributions directly aid in securing sports gear and orchestrating events for children who have found themselves relocated to rural Armenian communities due to displacement.

The consolidated communities of Berd in Armenia’s Northeastern border with Azerbaijan is comprised of 17 towns and villages.  Almost 25,000 people call these communities home including 5,000 seniors and people with disabilities.  For these border communities, access to regular and quality healthcare is difficult and can be costly.  

To help provide better medical service for its residents on a regular basis, the community of Berd has secured via a grant a considerable amount of lab equipment and a portable x-ray machine.  In addition, they have allocated funding to outfit a large van with this equipment to serve as a mobile medical clinic.  This clinic will travel throughout these 17 communities on a regular schedule to provide on the spot x-rays, ultrasounds and lab work as needed as part of their exams.  

To secure the licensing for this effort, the clinic in Berd needs to have a dedicated space built to the proper standards for the x-ray machine.  The existing clinic does not have a current x-ray room, but does have the space to easily build one.  Our construction team will work with the Ministry of Health to build the x-ray room to proper specifications and help the clinic secure its license to fully operate this equipment and launch its mobile services.

The community of Berd has already agreed to fund the driver position and expenses related to operating the mobile clinic and vehicle maintenance.  

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, amusement parks, concerts, or attend cultural events.

Armenia’s orphan children should have the opportunity to experience popular cultural events, exhibits, and excursions. 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 sponsorship 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.

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, amusement parks, concerts, or attend cultural events.

Armenia’s orphan children should have the opportunity to experience popular cultural events, exhibits, and excursions. 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 sponsorship 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.

Karine S. and her two young sons live in the border village of Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur.  Last year, Karine’s husband was killed in a tragic auto accident.  Prior to this accident, Karine and her husband had purchased a home of their own in the village with plans to renovate the space, work the properties orchard and build a future for their children.  

Karine and her boys currently live in a rented home in the village.  The home they purchased needs to be rebuilt completely and partially expanded.  Once rebuilt, the home will have two bedrooms, a kitchen, living room and bathroom.  

Karine and her boys would be grateful to receive the support needed to help them renovate their home and give them a fresh start for their future.