Emergency Relief & Reconstruction Fund - Artsakh

These are some of the faces of the humanitarian crises in Artsakh. Yesterday the Paros team visited two families that have been displaced from Artsakh because of the Azeri attack to provide them with some financial support, staples and some toys for the children. Paros will continue supporting these and other families throughout this crisis.

Today the Paros team has launched #HeatForOurHeroes. Our goal is to supply a minimum of 1,000 warm winter coats to our brothers and sisters in Hayastan.

Thanks to our amazing donors, we were able to help meet the Ministry of Health's immediate need with the purchase and air shipment of 7 Electro Surgical Units to Armenia. These units will be distributed to hospitals and be put to immediate use. $17,000 was allocated to for these units, their supplies and air freight.

Thanks to several amazing donors, we have launched a matching challenge grant to raise a total of $400,000 for the Relief, Resettlement and Reconstruction effort. These funds will be used to help refugees displaced because of the war or peace agreement, resettle in Armenia and Artsakh.

160 heater/cookers were purchased in Armenia, filled with natural gas, and distributed for use by the military and refugees. 100 heaters were provided to the Defense Ministry for use in the field. The other 60 were provided to refugee families from Artsakh through a coordinated effort with the Ministry of Social and Labor Issues. $1,920 was allocated for the purchase of these heater cookers.

We LOVE partnerships. Our friends at Focus on Children Now asked for our support and involvement to help fund and install a heating system at the Arevik Hotel at Lake Sevan that will soon be housing 300 displaced people from Artsakh. FOCN and Paros are each contributing up to $5,000 for this important project.

Your matching donations have helped Nelli -a sniper, lawyer, single-mother- and her 3 year old daughter pay their rent while she looks for a new job. Nelli volunteered in the Four-Day War in 2016 and received a shrapnel wound to the leg. On September 27th, she once again bravely went to fight for her country for the past 2.5 months. We admire Nelli's strength and bravery and thank her for her service.

Today we launched The Paros Foundation’s Resettlement Program, which will take a comprehensive approach to refugee resettlement including thoroughly screening families, securing them permanent homes in Armenia (including renovation and furnishings), and engaging the families in appropriate economic activities to help them provide for themselves. Our goal is to help these families so they can successfully stay in Armenia.

Dr. Haig left the fighting in Syria several years ago and moved along with his three daughters to Ishkhanadzor, Artsakh. There, he was working in the village medical center and tending to his cows and pomegranate orchard. When the war broke out, Haig was forced to evacuate and try and move his cows when the Azeris overran Ishkhanadzor. He made it to Berdzor, where our staff rented trucks to move his cows to a temporary barn we found for him in the village of Nor Geghi, one of our beneficiary villages near Yerevan. Haig's cows and a newborn calf are safe and Haig and his daughters are now in Yerevan. This family joins thousands of other families who now need to be resettled in Armenia. Join us and help our resettlement fundraising efforts to help Dr. Haig’s family and so many more like them.

Most recently we were able to purchase three three high quality winter tents for use by our volunteer defenders along the new borders as winter sets in. These tents cost a total of $5,250 and were completely funded by your donations to our Emergency Relief Fund for Artsakh. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to make this happen.

Focus on Children Now (FCN), Sahman NGO, Teach For Armenia, and The Paros Foundation have entered into a coalition agreement to form the Armenian Resettlement Coalition (ARC) to help restart these families' lives in Armenia. The Paros Foundation is financially responsible for purchasing homes and home renovations. Sahman NGO, will implement a significant economic support effort such as providing livestock. Focus on Children Now (FCN) will completely furnish the homes with major appliances and will supplement each of the family’s children with a three-month nutrition. Teach For Armenia will provide each school-aged child a computer tablet and internet connection.

Thanks to the Armenian Resettlement Coalition, the first five families are settled in their newly renovated homes in Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur.

In Medz Masrik, five displaced families successfully move into newly renovated homes. 

Three more families receive homes in Metz Masrik. More families will be receiving homes in 2023. 

During the second half of 2023, four displaced Artsakh families received new homes. Thank you to our fellow members of the Armenian Resettlement Coalition for helping us make this possible.