The mission of the Ghoghanj Children’s Center is to provide the proper support and guidance children need to excel in school and become self-confident and respectful young adults. Founded in 2003, the Ghoghanj Children’s Center works with vulnerable “at-risk” children and their families to help them overcome social, psychological and legal issues.

The Center’s programs are specifically designed to facilitate group discussion and are sensitive to the psychological challenges of an at-risk child and their families. The Center works to develop successful communication, self-expression and tolerance skills among the students. A fundamental focus on homework assistance and tutoring to ensure academic success is a key ingredient of the programs’ success.

The Center is located in the center of Yerevan in a facility provided to them rent-free by the Strauch-Kulhanjian family and the Paros Foundation. Several children in the Kilikia neighborhood and the Yerort Mas neighborhoods of Yerevan are in need of the Center’s services, but cannot afford the daily transportation fees. Providing transportation scholarships for these children will facilitate their attendance.

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.  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. 

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.

The Paros Foundation will directly oversee the renovation six identical two stall bathrooms including addressing such elements as windows, doors, flooring, lighting, paint, sinks, faucet and toilet. Whenever possible, the school staff, students and their parents will be incorporated into the classroom remodel project to help build a sense of community and personal investment.

The Kanakeravan Fine Arts School is located in the village of Kanakeravan 30 minutes outside of Yerevan and serves both this village and a neighboring village. The School provides afterschool program in several of the fine arts including music, dance, pottery, painting and needle work to more than 125 children annually. The School has a committed staff and principal that ensure that their personal passion for the arts is upheld and taught to these children. The School receives support from the local government for administrative expenses and the students pay a modest monthly fee. This support and fees are not enough to allow the School to renovate this bathroom.

The village of Getashen is a town in the Armavir Province of Armenia, a few hundred meters away from the Turkish border. This village of 2,300 people currently houses one village school with 280 kids in attendance, but does not have an operating kindergarten for its younger children.
Recently the principal of the school has identified the important need for a kindergarten and is committed to put in great efforts to create one. He has made space available which will need to be renovated and turned into the village kindergarten. In addition, he will exhaust all efforts to contribute part of the labor and materials needed to complete this project. Sponsorship of this project will help raise the remaining amount needed in order to complete renovations. The renovations will include new doors and windows, electrical, window blinds, new flooring and new paint. The creation of a functioning kindergarten in the village of Getashen will provide local children a safe and comfortable environment in which to learn. Presently there are 25 younger children that will be able to attend.

The Nork Orphanage houses approximately 80 infants and toddlers, from newborns to six years of age. The facility is located in the Nork area of Yerevan approximately 15 minutes from the city center. The orphanage is in need of an appropriate play area for the children that can provide them with a safe environment in which they can play and interact with one another, with staff, and with perspective adoptive parents.

A 25 x 25 meter (approximately 7,000 square feet) outdoor space is prime for the addition of a small wading pool, water feature, flower garden and seating area. This area would give the children need summer relief during the hot weather and create a very nice space for the children, the staff and perspective adoptive parents to spend time.

The scope of work in this space includes constructing a water feature (sprinkling type), a small wading pool (about 140 square feet) with filtration system, the addition of benches, flowerbeds, walkways, outdoor lighting and landscape.

The residents of Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city have endured very devastating realities. The tragic 1988 Spitak Earthquake claimed the lives of 25,000 people and left more than 100,000 residents homeless, and plagued with unemployment and rampant poverty for years to come. In turn, the fate of children in Gyurmi 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 and the financial resources for them to excel in school and have a successful future. Families struggling with these extreme conditions must often place their children in one of several orphanages to try to have their daily needs met.

The Debi Arach Children’s Center, which in Armenian means “moving forward,” will help these socially vulnerable children by providing them with the support and guidance they need to succeed in life. Through sponsorship of this important project The Paros Foundation, will establish a children’s center providing the necessary academic, psychological, social and humanitarian support to ensure that the children mature to well adjusted, successful, young adults.

The new center will provide 100 students with opportunities to receive counseling, homework help and tutoring along with English, Math, Art/Design, and Computer classes. Additionally, a well-balanced and nutritious meal will be provided daily. The Center, which will be open six days a week, will be able to serve two groups of 50 students for three days each per week.

In order to address another very important need for children in Gyumri, supervised bathing facilities will be available for the children’s use. Each child attending the center will be able to use the showers twice a week should they desire. Strict supervision will be assigned in order to ensure the privacy and safety of the children.

Furthermore, the municipality of Gyumri has agreed to partner with us on this important project and provide us with long term and rent-free space to house this new program. The current program budget reflects only the one-time startup and annual operational costs.

The Ghoghanj Children’s Center located in the Kentron of Yerevan provides afterschool and summer school programs for approximately 75 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 the Nor Nork neighborhood of Yerevan to provide support to 75 additional children annually. The new center provides students the same core classes (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.

Currently, The Paros Foundation is looking for donors who will help keep this important Center running in the 2016-2017 school year. Amount will include rent, utilities, teacher salaries, maintenance and additional improvements, and supplies.

Share-A-Pair, a project to get shoes to Armenia’s children, needs your help!
Launched in the Los Angeles area by Kristen and Bridget Abajian, and Sophia Dilsizian, this effort’s goal is to provide 1,000 quality pairs of shoes to Armenia’s needy children.

“When we lived in Armenia, and in later visits, we saw the difficult conditions orphan and extremely poor children live in. We decided to dedicate our time and effort to helping Armenia’s children by trying to fill the important need for shoes. While having one extra pair of shoes for us here in the U.S. doesn’t mean much, a pair of new shoes for an orphan or a very poor child in Armenia is very valued. Please consider helping us help these children.” Said Kristen Abajian in her fundraising appeal.

The goal of raising $10,000, which will provide more than 1,000 quality shoes for children, will hopefully be reached with the help of friends and supporters around the country. We hope to reach the goal and deliver the first batch of shoes to both children in the orphanages and other children in need in the summer of 2011.

Share-a-pair is able to purchase one quality pair of shoes for $10. Donations are welcomed in any amount. 100% of the proceeds will be spent buying new shoes and putting them on the feet of children in need. Donations of new practical shoes in all sizes are also appreciated and welcomed. 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 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.