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?

One of the schools recently identified in need of a complete renovation is located in the large village of Ljashen in the Gegharkunik region at Lake Sevan. Ljashen Village has a population of 5,000 and one local school. About 300 students attend this run down school.

The Paros Foundation will directly oversee the renovation of a classroom at this school including doors, flooring, lighting, paint, electrical, and furniture as needed. The heating system was replaced 10 years ago by Developmental Services for Armenia, a California based humanitarian organization, and is still fully functioning. Whenever possible, the school, students and their parents will be incorporated into the classroom remodel project to help build a sense of community and personal investment.

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 their basic care and education.

Excursions for these children 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 for these children to 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.

As a result of the aggressive military attack by Azerbaijan along the front line of contact with the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, according to up to date reports, at least 29 Armenian soldiers from the Artsakh Defense Forces and local civilians including a 12-year-old boy have lost their lives and more than 100 people are wounded including two additional children. Our community must mobilize and do what we can to support an immediate cease-fire and support for these Heroes, who have died defending our Nation.

For our part, The Paros Foundation has launched a Hero Support Fund to raise funds and provide them to the families of our deceased Heroes. Our goal is to provide a minimum of $1,000 to every Hero’s family. While these funds will no where near address this tragic loss of life, nor ease the grief of our Hero’s families, it will provide them a bit of relief during these difficult times. As with any of our projects, 100% of your donation will be used to support this project without any administrative costs. Funds will be distributed as quickly as possible to the grieving families of these Heroes.

Agarak is an isolated village with 1,420 residents in the Stepanavan area of Armenia’s Lori Region. The facility is housed in a one-story building that was renovated after the 1988 Spitak Earthquake. (Last renovation is 2006)

The Medical Center consists of five rooms totaling approximately 1320 square feet. This regional medical center serves the needs of both the rural community of Agarak, along with the neighboring communities of Hovnanadzor, Yaghdan and Koghes. The Center needs new windows and doors, repairs to the existing flooring and a freezer for vaccines.

The Paros Foundation team will work with the village administration to ensure that they support the project in as many ways as possible including donated materials, free labor and/or support services.

It is anticipated that the repairs to the medical center will take approximately 3 months depending on weather conditions.

January 2014 Update
The Centaur hippo therapy center, was able to raise the funds and purchase their horses. The center now has asked us to help with the refurbishing of two cabins for overnight therapy opportunities.

The Association of Hippotherapy and Equestrian Sports Centaur NGO provides rehabilitation for physically and mentally afflicted children and adults through hippotherapy, horseback riding and equestrian sports, as well as health and recreation services. Widely recognized throughout the world, hippotherapy method was first introduced into Armenia four years ago by the Centaur staff. Centaur practices hippotherapy in the village of Ushi of Aragatsotn Marz, some 30 km from Yerevan in the North West of Armenia, with specially trained horses. It also owns 8 rescued dogs, a cow and rabbit (aiming to have more domestic animals in the future), all involved in animal therapy. Centaur is not only a hippotherapy center or a horseback riding club. Many of our visitors state that it is a place with special atmosphere where people learn building relationship with animals, through the interaction with horse and dogs overcome many fears, get rid of negative influences of big cities.

Since 2007 we have been working with the children and adults with physical and mental disorders such as CP, autism, mental deficiency, Down syndrome, scoliosis and other spinal problems, nerve system disorders and so on. Within the 4 years of our existence over 100 children and adults have been experiencing a magic healing power of the Horse.

The Heros Humanitarian Foundation (HHF), a Los Angeles based non-profit organization, supports children in need and their educational advancement. The organization was founded in 2008 by six Armenian Americans with the belief that no child should be deprived of the essential necessities needed for their education regardless of their socioeconomic status. Their mission is to provide backpacks and school supplies to children living in poverty and from low socioeconomic households around the world. Through their Packs on Backs initiative, HHF hopes to motivate children, help them stay and excel in school, and have successful futures.

The Heros Humanitarian Foundation has partnered with The Paros Foundation to bring their Packs on Backs initiative to Armenia. The program will launch in Armenian’s second largest city, Gyumri, whose 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. Our goal is to provide 300 children in Gyumri with backpacks and school supplies and help them stay in school. Sponsorship of this project will help obtain backpacks and school supplies for 300 children in Gyumri, 100 of which will be attending the new Debi Arach Children’s Center and 200 to children from poverty stricken neighborhoods throughout the city. A donation of $30 will help obtain a 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 their basic care and education.

Excursions for these children 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 for these children to 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.

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. One of these many families is the Grigoryan family. Aram Grigoryan grew up in a domik and now lives there with his wife, Armine, and their two young daughters ages four and seven. An entire generation of children have 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. Unfortunately, the Grigoryans were not among these families and do not qualify for the re-housing program. 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.

Based on a number of factors The Paros Foundation has determined that the Grigoryan family will be successful in maintaining their household in a new apartment. Both Aram and Armine work at the Gyumri Beer Factory, one of the only factories standing in the entire city. Although Armine has a degree in civil and criminal law she is unable to find work in her field. Together they make a modest living of around $300 a month. They are both hard-working and great parents who are making every sacrifice to give their children a decent life. A new home that is warm and safe will be a dream come true. Once the move is complete, the make shift housing unit they currently live in will be destroyed to prevent its future occupancy.

Health care for residents living in Armenia’s remote and/or poverty stricken areas is very hard to find and difficult to afford. Residents in these communities have a high rate of health issues that could otherwise be prevented or cured if they had access to simple medical care. In order to help remedy this unfortunate situation, The Paros Foundation has launched Med Aid Armenia.

Med Aid Armenia is made up of medical professionals (practicing or in school) from the United States who are volunteering their time and skills in order to provide residents in these communities with basic medical care. The group of volunteer medical professionals will be working with Armenian’s Health Ministry as well as several doctors from Armenia. The first of these missions will launch this summer starting July 6, 2015 –July 10, 2015. As a first step our target population will receive basic check-ups and screenings. Specifically this summer, Med Aid Armenia will provide basic eye care to children from the village of Hatsik in the Armavir region of Armenia. Basic care will include eye exams and screenings. Following screenings, patients will be provided with referrals for continuing care if needed.

Sponsorship of this project will help raise the necessary funds needed to obtain basic equipment and supplies. In-kind donations of any of these items are also welcomed.

Following the 1988 Spitak Earthquake, 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. Although more than a quarter century has passed since the earthquake, this depressive reality still remains. Currently, more than 2,300 dilapidated domiks are still scattered throughout Gyumri, about 500 of which are vacant. Many families who received homes through government aid did not demolish their old domiks.

Through our Purchase a Home project we have been working hard to find families new homes and demolish their old domiks in order to free Gyumri from these unsafe, unsanitary and depressing reminders of their difficult history. Recently, we have also teamed up with one of our partner organizations from Armenia, Shirak Centre NGO, to find sponsorship for this new and equally important project. Through this project we will work with Shirak Centre NGO to locate and identify the vacant domiks in Gyumri, purchase the domiks from their owners, demolish them and distribute the remaining scraps of wood to other families in need who are still living in domiks and condemned buildings. All remaining materials will be sold for scrap and those funds will be applied towards removing yet another domik. $1,000 is needed in order to complete this process per domik.

Our goal is to take as many domiks off of the market as possible. Demolishing these domiks has several benefits including raising the communities morale, returning land to its former use and providing firewood for fuel to impoverished families. Furthermore, this project has a significant environmental benefits; by using the scraps of wood from the domiks, less and less trees from nearby forests will need to be cut in order to serve this vital need.