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 this classroom including addressing such elements as windows, doors, flooring, lighting, paint, chalk or white board and desks and chairs. 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. This classroom is one of five classrooms, two bathrooms and the hallway comprising the elementary school classes at Hatsik.

Hatsik is a village in the Armavir Province of Armenia. This village of 2,558 people currently houses one school with 285 students in attendance.

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 including addressing such elements as windows, doors, flooring, lighting, paint, chalk or white board and desks and chairs. 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.

Hatsik is a village in the Armavir Province of Armenia. This village of 2,558 people currently houses one school with 285 students in attendance. Renovations at the Hatsik Village School began with the Paros Foundation’s SERVICE Armenia 2013 group.

Share-a-pair, a project to get shoes to Armenia’s disadvantaged children needs your help!

Share-a-pair was launched in Los Angeles by sisters, Kristen and Bridget Abajian. Soon thereafter Sophia Dilsizian joined in by leading the efforts in California’s South Bay community. Additional chapters were quickly launched in Chattanooga, TN and Detroit, MI. A modest goal of raising enough funds to purchase, ship and distribute 1,000 pairs of shoes to Armenia’s needy children was quickly realized in 2011. Having contacted a major U.S. based shoe manufacturer, Share-a-pair successfully secured and distributed 25,000 pairs of new shoes to more 100 villages and 13 cities in Armenia in 2012 and now wants to expand this important effort to 50,000 children.

Thanks to the generous support of a major shoe manufacturer in the United States, 50,000 shoes have been secured and are on their way to Armenia valued at more than $250,000. Donations are welcomed in any amount and will be used to help underwrite the costs associated with distributing shoes to Armenia’s most isolated villages and regions. Donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions and be sure to visit us on facebook. Thank you!

The villages of Vahagnadzor and Vahagni are approximately three miles away from one another in the Lori Region (north of the city of Vanadzor.) Neither village has an operating kindergarten for its children. These villages are located along the north – south railway line. Immediately to the south of Vahagnadzor is a rail switching station. Several people from the village of Vahagni work at the station and pass through Vahagnadzor daily solving any potential transportation issues. It is estimated that approximately 10 of the potential students will come from the village of Vahagni.

A kindergarten building owned by the village of Vahagnadzor exists and is in good condition. $700 in funding is needed to connect the kindergarten to the water and gas networks. The Kindergarten would operate year-round with running water and heat. The village mayor has secured local donations and support to staff and operate the program, but gas for heating and cooking and water for cooking and the restroom is necessary.

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 150 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. The children as a whole have gained several pounds since they have started attending, demonstrating their need for nutritious and consistent meals. Additionally, three children have been taken out of boarding schools and brought to our center and now live back at home with their families. Staff trainings have begun 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.

To support the psychological development of the children and underscore their sense of self worth, developing positive childhood memories is important. To this end, each month, all of the children having birthdays will be celebrated following lunch with a cake. Both groups of attendees will celebrate the children monthly.

The Paros Foundation established the Debi Arach Children’s Center in Gyumri, Armenia on April 15, 2015. The center, which provides 120 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.

The center hopes to expand Debi Arach with the establishment of a vocational center to provide young adults with a set of skills and tools they will need to secure gainful employment and help break their family’s cycle of poverty. Currently, at Debi Arach children expressing an interest at attending college receive free tutoring to help them gain admission. Those who do not plan to continue their formal education will be enrolled in several vocational training programs offered at no charge. In addition, young adult who do not currently attend the Debi Arach Children’s Center will also be invited to enroll and participate in the programs. Training classes such as computer programing, hardware repair, welding, culinary and cosmetology – – all of which are in demand in the Gyumri job market – – will be offered.

The center will operate Monday- Saturday and classes will be offered on a rotating basis. 50 young adults will be enrolled per year and attend the training class of their choice. Once the training courses are completed, the Debi Arach staff will work with the students on job placement. Sponsorship towards this project will help complete modest renovations, employ qualified staff and run the vocational center for one year. 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.

Hatsik is a village in the Armavir Province of Armenia. This village of 2,558 people currently houses one school with 285 students in attendance. The Hatsik Village School, which was the site for renovations completed by the Paros Foundation’s SERVICE Armenia 2013 and 2014 groups, is in need of a complete gym makeover. The gym at the Hatsik Village School not only serves as the main sporting area for the entire school, but a meeting place for the entire village. The gym is home to several village meetings and events, and sporting functions for all children and adults from the entire village. Thanks to the generosity of past and present donors, The Paros Foundation renovated ten classrooms, three restrooms and the hallways housing the elementary school wing during the SERVICE Armenia 2013 and 2014 trips and plans to renovate more classrooms during the SERVICE Armenia 2015 trip. The regional government has allocated funding to complete the school’s heating system. In addition, the Hatsik Village Municipality is committed to help raise funds within their network of donors to help with the restoration of the school’s kitchen.

Sponsorship of this project will help raise the amount needed in order to complete renovations at the Hatsik School gym including, new doors, windows and window netting, new lighting, repairs to the walls ceiling and paint, and boys and girls locker rooms. Our previous renovations at the Hatsik School are well maintained, thus giving us great motivation to continue our work at this site. The Paros Foundation is committed to completing renovations and dramatically improving the overall condition for the children at this school.

Armenian Mothers NGO, a charitable organization founded in 2012, supports children with cerebral palsy (CP) and their mothers. The organization’s major aim is to improve the quality of life for these children, integrate them into society, as well as provide psychological and informational support to their mothers. Through their hard work they hope to raise public awareness about this issue, and to promote the development and improvement of services within this field.

Recently, Armenian Mothers NGO has been working towards creating an art therapy room where these children can receive different forms of innovative and effective art therapy free of charge. They have already succeeded in obtaining funding and have completed the renovation of a one-room center. Furthermore, they also have a willing staff of professionals to carry out lessons. Sponsorship of this project will help the NGO complete the art therapy room with furniture including three high chairs, two special tables for sand therapy, one standard table, and four chairs.

We would like to provide soccer balls to the children who are living in the outermost villages of Armenia. These are truly the poorest areas of the country and where the most “in need” people are living. Our goal is to deliver 500 soccer balls. We are hopeful that you can help us in some small way reach this goal by providing us with soccer balls or a small monetary donation. Thank you for considering our special request. We are so proud to have the opportunity to make this small difference in our world. Please consider helping us reach our goal.

Franklin Chelebian     Peter Chelebian

Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur is an important border village with a population of 1,380 residents in the Bert area of Armenia’s Tavush Region. This community, whose territory connects with Azerbaijan, lives and works under a constant risk of sniper fire and renewed armed conflict each day. The economy of the village and the livelihood of many of its residents has suffered due to these difficult and dangerous times. It is of strategic importance to support these villagers in their daily lives so that they may remain inhabitants of this village, mere footsteps from Azerbaijan. With the help of Jean-Marie and Lori Atamian of New York, The Paros Foundation has already renovated their medical center and kindergarten successfully. These projects have had a huge impact on the community. Now, economic development and opportunities for work are essential to continue improving the conditions in this border village. Sponsorship of this project will help provide needy villagers with the opportunity to care for their families and to help improve the village’s economy.

Samvel G. and his family have been identified as one of the families who are in need of additional support in order to help their agribusiness grow. Their family consists of five members including Samvel, who is a contract soldier, his wife and their three children who are all under the age of 11. They live in a 1,076 sq. ft. apartment, which is in need of renovations that they will complete with the help of a small loan from Armenia’s leading mobile operator, Vivacell. They also have a newly constructed pigsty and a 377 sq. ft. barn (which is in need of renovations). Samvel will complete the barn renovations by his own means once we have provided the materials. They have also requested a few pigs, two sows and a few sheep.  As a part of this effort Samvel and his family will be provided training and/or business tips for the ensured success of their agribusiness. Frequent visits will be made to the family to track their progress and determine the success of their new venture.