Donations to The Paros Foundation Projects for Prosperity are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. To sponsor a project through The Paros Foundation, a 501 (c) 3 organization (Tax ID 20-5094630), or learn more about specific projects in need of funding, please contact us using the information below.
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.
This August, the kids from he Kharpert Home have a special trip planned. They will be giving a concert, during which they will be singing and dancing in Gyumri. Although they are very excited for this special opportunity they are in need of funding to make this trip possible. They will need $2,500 to cover the costs of hotel rooms and transport to and from Gyumri. Please consider supporting this important project for the Kharpert Home.
Region
Ararat
City / Village
Nor Kharpert
Start Date
August 21, 2023
End Date
August 21, 2023
The Need
Approximately 1,200 children live in Armenia’s 15 orphanages. While these facilities provide basic care for these children, their limited funding does not permit these children regular visits and participate in various social and cultural activities. A child with a disability has very few opportunities to visit the city and experience life outside of the grounds of the Kharpert Home for Special Children.
Short Term Impact
The short-term impact of this project will help children from the Kharpert Home travel to Gyumri on an away trip and be able to perform their song and dance concert.
Long Term Impact
This project has considerable long-term benefits for both the children and for society. Society’s attitudes towards people with disabilities will slowly begin to change as witness these children regularly and realize that society can indeed accommodate them as part of their community. This project will also gift the children a special day they will cherish in their memories for a long time.
Sponsors Benefits
Your donation to the Kharpert Home for Special Children will be recognized at the Center and your name listed as a sponsor on The Paros Foundation website and in appropriate press related to this important project. The Paros Foundation stands ready to help you arrange a visit to the Kharpert Home for Special Children when you are in Armenia.
Residents from the Kharpert Home For Special Children were taken to Gyumri to participate in the folk music festival “Chachruk” for people with disabilities. They had a very successful trip and an amazing time performing and showing their talents.
Economic opportunities for rural Armenian communities are scarce. To help address this important issue, The Paros Foundation has launched several initiatives aimed at job creation in rural communities. This includes planting more than 800 fruit-bearing trees, establishing a pig farm, fertilizer production, small animal feed production and honey production. These economic development opportunities are all administered under the auspices of the Aygepar Business Incubator, which provides rent-free space, sanitary conditions and marketing and technical expertise to local businesses.
The Paros Foundation successfully launched a high quality honey production just outside of the village of Verin Tsakhavan and later, in the village of Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur in the Berd area of Armenia’s Tavush Region with 200 bee hives. This was all done with the generous support of Dr. & Mrs. Gary and Linda Assarian (MI-USA).
Now the goal is to expand this production adding 50 more bee hives into a new community. This will both add to the commercially viable quantities of high-altitude, raw honey, and will lead to expanded job creation and opportunities in the market place. All components of this important project are manufactured locally in the Armenian market including the hives, bee families, wax starter sheets and concrete block stands. Even the glass jars for sale are manufactured in Armenia!
In addition to this projects job creating and economic benefits, as with the hives in Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur, these new hives will serve as an educational curriculum for students at the school in the new village that is ultimately selected. This living classroom approach has proved very successful to date.
One complete hive and bee colony costs $300. New hives and colonies will be added to expand the total number in the spring. Individuals that sponsor a complete hive will receive one jar of honey from this year’s harvest.
To help combat limited economic opportunities in rural communities, The Paros Foundation is working to create job opportunities and collective marketing opportunities via its Aygepar Business Incubator. Expanding honey production will not only create new jobs and help educate rural village children in the process of beekeeping, but encourage other local residents to expand their beehives as new markets will benefit the entire area.
Short Term Impact
In the short term, an immediate economic impact will be felt through the purchase and expansion of 50 new beehives in the spring. This will effect the hive producers, bee colony farmers, block producers and create addition jobs for bee keepers and teachers at the local school.
Long Term Impact
In the long term, expanded honey production will create commercially viable quantities of honey both for local consumption and export. As children at the school take interest in and gain beekeeping skills, they too will consider establishing hives for their own family’s use. Once export markets are established, other local honey producers will have opportunities to export their harvests as well.
Sponsors Benefits
Sponsors that donate at least $300 to “sponsor a hive” will receive a jar of honey from the 2022 harvest. In addition, all sponsors are listed on The Paros Foundation website. Visits to the honey field can be arranged for sponsors visiting Armenia.
A new field of 50 bee hives has been set up in the village of Gusanagyugh. First, the bee boxes were delivered. After the bees were delivered, The Paros team carefully placed the bees in their new bee boxes.
Nor Ughi Village is located in Armenia’s Ararat Region and is home to the Vedi Alcohol Company. 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. The gymnasium at the school has heat and new windows, but the walls, floors, ceiling, adjacent hallway and locker rooms need a complete renovation. Currently, students cannot utilize the gym in its entirety because of the fact that the existing wood flooring is rotten and unsafe to walk on in many areas.
Mr. and Mrs. John & June Mangassarian from Rhode Island, visited the school in the past as part of his leadership with a Fuller Center project in the same village. The Mangassarians have pledged to match any contribution to this important project to help.
Work on this gym will take an estimated four months to complete and will include repairs to the walls and ceiling, new electrical, flooring and paint. The locker rooms and hallway will also be renovated as part of this project.
162 students that attend the Nor Ughi School in the communities of Nor Ughi and Ginevet cannot use the school’s gym because it is in need of a full renovation. The school’s modest annual budget does not allow it to renovate this facility.
Short Term Impact
In the short term, the village will receive a modest economic benefits of construction related costs as construction materials will be purchased locally and the work will be completed with local labor crews. Once completed, 162 students at the school will receive the benefits of having a fully functioning gym at the school.
Long Term Impact
Over the useful life of the school’s gym renovation, an estimated 2,000 children will receive the benefits of sports at their school. This will promote both a healthier lifestyle and help them focus on their studies.
Sponsors Benefits
All sponsors of this important project will be listed on The Paros Foundation’s website and in all press related to this project. Sponsor names will also be listed on a plaque at the school. Visits to these communities can be arranged for sponsors visiting Armenia.
Construction began today at the Nor Ughi school’s gym with our team working to remove the deteriorating plaster and loose paint from the walls and gym ceiling.
July 14, 2023With work on the gym completed, an official ribbon cutting ceremony was held to celebrate its opening. Students warmly greeted donors Mr. and Mrs. John & June Mangassarian with singing and dancing performances to show their appreciation for a brand new area for them to play.
December 7, 2023
With remaining funds from the renovation, we have purchased gym equipment including balls, jumprope, and gymnastics equipment for the students to play with.
The town of Nor Hachen is located in Armenia’s Kotayk Region. Approximately 8,400 people call this community home. Nor Hachen has a fully staffed polyclinic with three pediatricians and five family medicine doctors that serve the medical needs of the Nor Hachen community, schools, and outlying villages. The total service area of the Clinic is almost 13,000 people. Nor Hachen Polyclinic provides primary care, ambulance service and some specialty services. Many of the doctors at the center also work in Yerevan as Nor Hachen’s proximity to the city is about 30 minutes away. The medical center lacks some basic equipment that prevents it from successfully serving its patients.
Nor Hachen Polyclinic with Med Aid Armenia aims to achieve their mission of bringing western standards of medical care to the community. This will be done with evidence-based medicine, screening programs and preventive care practices. This will achieve improved health outcomes coupled with efficient use of resources to provide a sustainable model of care delivery.
The Nor Hachen Polyclinic operates on sparse resources, and mostly in the form of outdated and decrepit equipment carry-over from the Soviet-era. Care delivery at Nor Hachen is also mostly Soviet-era style, unlike some newer clinics in the capital, Yerevan. The clinic operates on a single payer system with the option of fee-for-service.
Specialty services available include cardiology, HNS, ophthalmology, neurology, gastroenterology, OB/GYN and minor surgical procedures. Some of these specialists are available several times a week. Limited laboratory and imaging services available hamper the clinic staff ability to provide quality and complete care, necessitating referral out for the services at cost to the patient for significantly more, and often preventing the patient from getting the care needed. The clinic is eager for basic resources and developing improved knowledge in delivering care.
Over the last 3 years, Med Aid Armenia has developed a working relationship with the staff at the Polyclinic. Spending more time at the clinic, we are able to see firsthand the struggles of care delivery and an inefficient system. The remainder of Armenia is also struggling with its health care, especially primary care, notably those areas outside of Yerevan.
What makes Nor Hachen unique is its location, the size of population it serves, and the open-minded eager staff committed to learn and improve. The clinic’s 30-minute drive distance from Yerevan gives relatively ease of access: Diasporan physicians and clinic resources would not need to travel far. The population is large enough to implement significant programs and study its effectiveness. This can be done without overwhelming resources typically required for national level programs.
Med Aid Armenia set out to create a program at the Nor Hachen Polyclinic with the ultimate goal of improving health outcomes of the population with grounded and sustainable use of resources and improving the wellness of the clinic staff.
Currently, the Armenian Government is renovating the building and last year we were able to raise enough funds to purchase an x-ray machine for the polyclinic. However, the Nor Hachen Polyclinic is still in need of numerous pieces of medical equipment to give the best safe medical care.
Short Term Impact
In the short term, as funding is available, needed quality equipment will be purchased and delivered to the medical center. This will allow the polyclinic’s doctors to give quality care all in one place without having to send patients elsewhere for necessary medical services.
Long Term Impact
In the long term, 13,000 patients will receive better health care as the Nor Hachen Clinic receives better equipment and staff is trained upon this new equipment.
Sponsors Benefits
All sponsors of this important project will be listed on The Paros Foundation’s website and in all press related to this project. Visits to the Nor Hachen community can be arranged for sponsors visiting Armenia.
The Armenian Government has confirmed their intent on renovating the physical clinic. We hope to start renovations by the end of this year.
January 20, 2024
Today, Peter Abajian delivered four vital sign monitors and four otoscopes. Dr. Deramerian explained proper usage of the vital sign monitors to the clinic staff.
July 3, 2024
Med-Aid Armenia 2024 participants visited the Nor Hachen Clinic to teach a training to the staff and provide check-ups for locals. This also included a visit to Getamej, a town close to the Nor Hachen Clinic, providing check-ups. The goal is to deliver emergency care, but also ensure that these villages are receiving ongoing preventative care.
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.
Watch Video
Region
Yerevan / Երևան
City / Village
Nor Nork / Նոր Նորք
Start Date
September 2023
End Date
August 2024
The Need
Children living in the community of Nor Nork in Yerevan are in need of additional guidance through social, psychological and academic support. A second center for these kids has been opened and needs financial support in order to cover operational costs for the following school year 2023-2024.
Short Term Impact
In the short term, sponsorship of this project will help continue to employ teachers, and provide 85 children in the Nor Nork neighborhood of Yerevan with their needed tutoring and guidance.
Long Term Impact
In the long term, this project has the potential of impacting the lives of 85-100 at-risk students by helping them gain the guidance and support they need in order to create greater future opportunities, and become successful individuals and good citizens.
Sponsors Benefits
Your donation to fund the operational costs for the 2023-2024 school year for Ghoghanj-Nor Nork will be recognized with a plaque at the Center and on the Center’s website and in their printed materials. Your name will also be listed as a sponsor on The Paros Foundation website and in appropriate press related to this important project. The Paros Foundation will happily arrange a visit to the center when you are in Armenia.
The Ghoghanj Nor Nork Children’s Center celebrate Christmas with performances, awards, and Christmas snacks.
January 19, 2024
Children of displaced Artsakh families are welcomed to Ghoghanj Nor Nork Children’s Center for the launch of the We are the guardians of Artsakh’s culture program. The program includes classes on folk dance, history, excursions, embroidery, and choir lessons.
June 29, 2024
Med Aid Armenia team visit the Ghoghanj Nor Nork Children’s Center to perform checkups on the attending children.
July 1, 2024
SERVICE Armenia 2024 participants visit the Ghoghanj Children’s Center Nor Nork.
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. $82,000 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
https://youtu.be/idA8y2UEDp8
Region
Shirak / Շիրակ
City / Village
Gyumri / Գյումրի
Start Date
April 2023
End Date
March 2024
The Need
Thousands of children in Gyumri are living in extreme poverty, with no hope for a decent future. These socially vulnerable children are in need of a safe and enriching environment where they can receive additional guidance through social, psychological and academic support giving them a chance to break their cycle of poverty. The children’s center will continue to provide these children with the opportunity to attend afterschool and summer school programs providing them with the additional skills necessary for a successful future. Additionally, these children suffer from malnutrition and related illnesses due to a lack of well-balanced meals. The center will continue to provide each child with a nutritious meal everyday, helping them receive the calories and/or nutrients they need. Furthermore, many families were forced to take refuge in overseas shipping containers (domiks), or in condemned buildings after the devastating 1988 Spitak Earthquake or due to their poor socioeconomic status. An entire generation of children has grown up in deplorable conditions, often times with no running water and little or no heat to take showers. The Center will address this very important hygienic need by continuing to provide the children in attendance with supervised new bathing facilities.
Short Term Impact
The short-term 185 children will receive immediate support and guidance to help them succeed for the second year. The Center will continue offer nutritious meals, bathing facilities, counseling opportunities, homework aid and tutoring and core classes including English, Computer, Art/Design, and Math.
Long Term Impact
In the long term, with the success of the Center’s current offerings, additional classes and programs will be added and attendance will rise. The number of children growing up in poverty in the future will decrease as the number of children successfully graduating from our program and continuing onto college or successful vocations increases. The number of “social orphans” and children temporarily residing in boarding schools in Gyumri will be reduced as parents become increasingly able to keep their children at home given the humanitarian support they receive at the center. Through ongoing employment opportunities created, several families will continue to receive a fair wage, hence improving Gyumri’s economy.
Sponsors Benefits
Your donation to sponsor the operating cost for 2023 of the Debi Arach Children’s Center in Gyumri will be recognized with a plaque at the Center and on the Center’s website and in their printed materials. Your name will also be listed as a sponsor on The Paros Foundation website and in appropriate press related to this important project. The Paros Foundation will proudly arrange a visit to the new Center when you are in Armenia.
Educators around the globe are aggressively promoting STEM education (science, technology, engineering and math) for children in schools. These important subjects help secure student’s futures in a world filled with high tech advances in nearly every aspect of live.
This project aims to augment existing high tech classes including robotics, computer programming and 3-d printing at schools and children centers across Armenia with additional hardware and educational materials aimed at familiarizing students with drone and photography technology. Support this effort and help arm our future generations with the skills they need to succeed in our ever changing world.
Students need to be armed with STEM education to compete in an every increasing high tech society. Current STEM classes offered in most of Armenia’s schools do not include drone and photography education. This project will help familiarize students with this technology.
Short Term Impact
In the short term, schools and children centers will receive both hardware and appropriate instruction on drone usage, repairs and maintenance.
Long Term Impact
In the long run, as these students are exposed to and master drone usage, they will be more confident in their abilities to utilize drones. In addition, having this technology and classes available in schools will encourage them to pursue related tech careers and higher education.
Sponsors Benefits
All sponsors of this important project will be listed on The Paros Foundation’s website and in all press related to this project. Visits to these programs can be arranged for sponsors visiting Armenia.
Our Paros team visited the Armat Odum Lab at a school in Vardenis where students take STEM courses. With appropriate funds raised, we hope to give them a drone to increase their STEM knowledge.
March 2, 2023
About a month later the Armat Odum Lab at a school in Vardenis was given a drone. With the help of our donors, we are excited to donate many more drones to schools in Armenia.
March 23, 2023
As part of the High-Tech Education program a guest speaker and a drone operator visited the Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur School to show the children more about the abilities and usage of drones.
October 15, 2024
So happy to support the educational programing at the newly opened Kajaran Training program. More than 200 young people will have access to the latest in high tech education!
Samvel and his wife along with their four young children (3 boys and a girl) live together in the border village of Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur.
Samvel has done his best to make improvements on the family home including rebuilding their bathroom and repairing the roof. The home needs a complete cosmetic remodel including new doors and windows.
Samvel is a retired contract soldier from the Armenian army. Several years ago, Samvel and his family were beneficiaries of The Paros Foundation’s Agribusiness project and received several pigs. He continues to work with his pig farm on a regular basis. He also works as a beekeeper for The Paros Foundation’s honey production effort at the local school. Astrig, Samvel’s wife, was employed until recently as the director of the village’s kindergarten.
Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur is an important border village with a population of approximately 1,100 residents in the Berd area of Armenia’s Tavush Region. This community remains under constant risk of sniper fire and renewed armed conflict. NKA was the single most damaged Armenian village during the Azeri conflict in the 1990’s. The economy of the village and the livelihood of many of its residents have suffered due to these difficult and dangerous conditions. In particular, 70% of their fertile land is unusable because of frequent sniper attacks. Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur is a beneficiary village of the Paros Foundation’s Prosperity on the Border Initiative. With major financial support of Jean-Marie Atamian and his family over the last 10 years, much of the village’s infrastructure has been completely rebuilt and improved including, but not limited to, its large secondary school, expanded kindergarten, medical center, emergency services building and water distribution system. In addition, several families have benefited from agribusiness and animal husbandry projects. Having funded the rebuilding of NKA’s infrastructure, the Atamian family is now focusing its attention on the reconstruction of severely damaged houses to provide decent and safe homes for deserving families in the village.
Samvel’s home is in poor condition. Due to the lack of economic opportunities in this border community, Samvel and his family cannot afford to complete renovations to their home.
Short Term Impact
In the short term, a local construction crew will be employed to renovate this home and earn a fair market wage. Reconstruction materials will be purchased locally also to provide a benefit to the regional economy.
Long Term Impact
In the long term, as homes in these communities are improved, local villagers will take greater pride in their communities. More importantly, Samvel and his family will live in safer and more comfortable conditions.
Sponsors Benefits
All sponsors of this important project will be listed on The Paros Foundation’s website and in all press related to this project. Visits to these communities can be arranged for sponsors visiting Armenia.
Hrant and his wife along with their married son and his family all live together in the border village of Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur. Seven people total live in this home, including three children under the age of six. The home is in need of a full remodel including the addition of one bedroom to offer the children a space of their own.
The family has a small plot of land around the house. They have a pig and a cow and some bee hives. They also have a small plot of land on the edge of the village that they use to harvest grass for use in their small barn.
Hrant is a retired soldier from the Armenian army and lives on a pension. His son, Karen, works in Berd and also works as a beekeeper for The Paros Foundation’s honey production effort at the local school.
Hrant’s house is in overall poor condition with their greatest need being a new roof and doors and windows. They also do not have proper heating. This effort would not only solve these critical housing needs, but also provide this large family with a completely renovated and reconfigured home for them.
Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur is an important border village with a population of approximately 1,100 residents in the Berd area of Armenia’s Tavush Region. This community remains under constant risk of sniper fire and renewed armed conflict. NKA was the single most damaged Armenian village during the Azeri conflict in the 1990’s. The economy of the village and the livelihood of many of its residents have suffered due to these difficult and dangerous conditions. In particular, 70% of their fertile land is unusable because of frequent sniper attacks. Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur is a beneficiary village of the Paros Foundation’s Prosperity on the Border Initiative. With major financial support of Jean-Marie Atamian and his family over the last 10 years, much of the village’s infrastructure has been completely rebuilt and improved including, but not limited to, its large secondary school, expanded kindergarten, medical center, emergency services building and water distribution system. In addition, several families have benefited from agribusiness and animal husbandry projects. Having funded the rebuilding of NKA’s infrastructure, the Atamian family is now focusing its attention on the reconstruction of severely damaged houses to provide decent and safe homes for deserving families in the village.
Hrant A.’s home is in poor condition. Due to lack of economic opportunities in this border community, Hrant and his family cannot afford to renovate their home. A leaky roof, poor windows and lack of proper heating create unsafe and uncomfortable conditions for his large family.
Short Term Impact
In the short term, a local construction crew will be employed to renovate this home and earn a fair market wage. Reconstruction materials will be purchased locally also to provide a benefit to the regional economy.
Long Term Impact
In the long term, as homes in these communities are improved, local villagers will take greater pride in their communities. More importantly, Hrant and his family will live in safer and more comfortable conditions.
Sponsors Benefits
All sponsors of this important project will be listed on The Paros Foundation’s website and in all press related to this project. Visits to these communities can be arranged for sponsors visiting Armenia.
The 1988 Spitak Earthquake caused the death of more than 35,000 people and left more than 100,000 people homeless. Armenia’s second largest city, Gyumri, was most affected by the earthquake. In the years that followed, Armenia’s Independence, the Artsakh War and corrupt regional and local officials all contributed to a massive housing shortage, the inability to emerge from this housing shortage, and generational poverty in Gyumri. Today, almost 2,000 domiks are still “home” to people in Gyumri. While the development in Gyumri has considerably advanced in recent years, this housing shortage continues to exist.
To date, The Paros Foundation has purchased 26 homes for domik families, and demolished 26 domiks, ensuring no one will ever live in one again. In early 2022, the new Mayor of Gyumri proposed to The Paros Foundation that the city provides The Foundation with one of Gyumri’s many half-constructed buildings, with the purpose of Paros completing the building’s construction and housing domik families. The building that was selected and given to Paros is suitable for 16 residential apartments and has an additional 6,000 square feet that Paros will use to open a second branch of its Debi Arach Children’s Center, additional vocational training programs and/or a second social enterprise.
The Paros Foundation has the experience and track record to successfully implement this project. Its benefits will be multi-fold including:
27 domik families will receive a new home.
27 domiks will be demolished and land returned to the city.
One unfinished building will be completed, eliminating another eye sore for the city.
During the construction phase, more than $500,000 will be invested in Gyumri’s economy through material purchases and labor.
Once completed, Debi Arach will create an additional 15 full time employment positions.
More than 2,000 people remain homeless in Gyumri living in “domiks”. This project will help create permanent housing for 16 families and eliminate 16 domiks.
Short Term Impact
The construction of 16 apartments and a second branch office of Debi Arach Children’s Center will create approximately 20 construction jobs for almost one year. There will be a local bump in the economy as labor and materials will be purchased locally whenever possible.
Long Term Impact
16 families will receive new apartments. 16 domiks will be demolished and the land returned to the city for public use. 100 children will receive the benefits proven through the programing at Debi Arach and 8 to 10 full time employment positions will be created at the new location.
Sponsors Benefits
All sponsors of this important project will be listed on The Paros Foundation’s website and in all press related to this project. Visits to these communities can be arranged for sponsors visiting Armenia.
Thank you to the Assarian and Atesian families for sponsoring a successful event that raised more than $75,000 in support for this important project.
August 22, 2023
We have hired both our project architect and seismic engineering firm for our building. They will help us design and develop plans for the addition of a fourth floor on the building that will house four to eight additional families in new apartments.
August 11, 2025
Thanks to a very generous anonymous donation, funding has been raised to complete the entire construction of this building. Additional donations will go towards the furniture and equipment needed for the housing units and children’s center.
October 4, 2025
Construction work on the building has officially begun.
February 23, 2026
Work is moving quickly. Seismic reinforcements for the entire building are underway.
May 12, 2026
Work on the interior room configurations are moving along.
September 11, 2026
The stone work on the exterior of the building is complete. Work on the inside of the building is still going well.
