THANK YOU

Dear partners at  Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley and Habitat for Humanity Delaware County, 

On behalf of our partner families we would like to thank you for your tithes of $14,313.26 ($7313.26-HFH of  St. Vrain Valley, 3 families served, $7000-Delaware County HFH, 3 families served ) received between August to October, 2014.  Thanks to your support, we were enabled to  serve 6 more families within the framework of Housing Micro finance project in Armavir and Gegharkunik regions.

Please see below the names of the families that befitted from your tithes:

Ashot Hovhannisyan

Arayik Grigoryan

Avetik Hakobyan
Astghik Movsisyan

Hovhannes Hambardzumyan
Harutyun Harutyunayan

To learn more about the families and how your support impacted their lives see 4 family stories below. 

Our goal is to continue to make a difference in the lives of the people. Your support is a great motivation for us and gives us courage and energy to move towards our goal of building better future for families living in substandard housing conditions. 
Thank you again for your partnership and dedication to Habitat for Humanity Armenia's mission. 

Ashot Hovhannisyan's family

The young family of Hovhannisyans was happy to welcome us in their new house in Aknashen village of Armavir region.  The family consisting of Ashot (32), his wife Lolita (21) and their one-year-old daughter Anna have started the renovation of their own house in partnership with Habitat Armenia.   At the moment they live in a tiny rented apartment in the village.

“We are moving from one place to the other all the time,” Ashot says, “finally we were given a chance to have a permanent shelter to call home. I am happy my daughter will grow up in healthy conditions and will have her own corner.”

They have installed new doors and windows and have plastered the walls, ceilings and flooring. Now they have stopped the work because of the weather conditions and will go on with the renovation in spring.

“I hope that next time you visit us we will have already settled in our newly renovated home. I will; be happy to host you and celebrate my housewarming with you. ”Ashot said.

Arayik Grigoryan's family

Arayik and his family of 9 live with an extended family in their ancestral home in Aghavnatun village, Armavir region.  Arayik was very excited to show us his own house that was being renovated through Habitat’s intervention.  He was happy to share that he will be moving to the new house with his wife Gohar (30) and two children; Ashot (10) and Lusine (7) in spring next year.

“We can’t wait to complete the house. It is amazing to see the progress day by day,” Arayik says.

Arayik is a truck driver and usually goes to Russia for migrant construction work in summer.  Gohar helps Arayik’s parents with agricultural activities in their garden.  Arayik could not find words to express his gratitude to Habitat.

Arayik said, “It is very hard to share home with a large family. My children don’t have privacy and don’t have enough space to do their lessons. In winter, we have to gather in one room to reduce heating costs. The upcoming year will be different for our family. We will have our own place to call home.”  

Thanks to Habitat Armenia’s support their long awaited dream will soon become a reality. They have already and installed new doors and windows and will finish the interior renovation by spring. 

Avetik Hakobyan's family

Avetik (52) lives in an old ancestral home with his wife Susanna (50) and two sons; Hayk (28) and Andranik (24). According to the Armenian tradition the youngest son of the family stays at the ancestral home as the successor of the family.  Three generation of the family lived in the house before it was passed to Avetik.  

“The house is very old and some parts are molded,” Susanna said, “besides, it is very costly to heat it in winter.”

Now the house needs interior and exterior upgrades. The roof leaks in the living room and there was not kitchen and bathroom unit. The toilet is an outdoor hole in front of the house.

Avetik was excited to show us the changes he has already made. He is a construction worker and does the work with his oldest son Hayk. They have already built the kitchen and bathroom unit and have changed the windows.  They had to interrupt the works because of winter and will restart it in spring.

“Thank you for your contribution in the welfare of my family. It would take us years to do the renovation ourselves. Now we can think of expanding our family due to your support,” Avetik shares. 

Astghik Movsisyan's family

This family of seven was in the middle of renovating their living room and kitchen when Habitat arrived. The family consists of grandparents, Astghik Movsisyan, her husband, and their three children, ages 4, 10, and 12. The house is small; it has a narrow hallway that leads into the living room, and to the right, a kitchen. There’s currently three bedrooms, one for the grandparents, one for the parents, one for the two children, and the oldest sleeps on the sofa in the living room. To keep warm in the winter, everyone gathers into the living room and sleeps around the woodstove.

The first thing our team noticed was the paintings mounted on the wall and the creative glass design on each bedroom door. This is my first time entering a home that is unlike the other traditional Armenian home.

“When I was young, my parents introduced me to art, and I want to inspire and pass this to my children. Art is a great form of expression, and hobby,” said Mr. Movsisyan.

Mr. Movsisyan is a migrant construction worker, and his wife is a homemaker. This house was built in 1963, and the intention is for the home to continue to stay in the family.

“I am so thankful for Habitat’s low income loan. Without it, I will not be able to renovate my home to make it safer for my family. It is hard to work oversea and leave my wife, aging parents, and young children in Armenia. But after this renovation, I will feel better about my absent.”

It was refreshing to meet such a creative family and the love Mr. Movsisyan has for his family is apparent. Our team looks forward to these field visits because of families like the Movsisyans.

Until next time, keep thinking positive thoughts!

Love,

Toquyen Doan

Peace Corps Volunteer

Armenia 2013-2015

THANK YOU

Dear Tim Ruggles and partners at Habitat for Humanity of Oakland County, 

On behalf of our partner families we would like to thank you for your donation of $9,000 received in July 2014.  Thanks to your support, we were enabled to  serve 3 more families within the framework of Housing Micro finance project in Tavush and Gegharkunik regions. 

Please see below the names of the families that befitted from your tithe:

Lusine Khachatryan

Nora Aghamalyan

Khachik Gasparyan

To learn more about the families and how your support impacted their lives see 2 stories below. 

Our goal is to continue to make a difference in the lives of the people. Your support is a great motivation for us and gives us courage and energy to move towards our goal of building better future for families living in substandard housing conditions. 
Thank you again for your partnership and dedication to Habitat for Humanity Armenia's mission. 

Lusine Khachatryan's family

Lusine Khachatryan 

When we approached the home of Lusine Khachatryan, we were welcomed by her warm smile and gracious persona. This family consists of six members- two grandchildren, son, daughter-in-law, and grandparents, Mrs. Lusine Khachatryan and Mr. Khachatryan. Lusine and her husband are pensioners, and the sole breadwinner of the family is their son, Samvel, a taxi driver.

Mr. Khachatryan’s father built their home in the 1930s. Every year the family tries to improve their living condition by refurbishing one part of the home. This year, they want to speed up the process due to their growing grandchildren. Thanks to their partnership with Habitat, the family was able to install new windows and doors, and build an indoor bathroom. Outhouses are popular in Armenia, and with the harsh winter, the situation is often unpleasant and not safe for young children.

Bathroom

Bathroom

Kitchen

Kitchen

“We are so thankful for Habitat. Without Habitat’s assistant, I do not know when my son will be able to put in our new bathroom,” said Mrs. Khachatryan.

When we asked for Mrs. and Mr. Khachatryan’s photo, the married couple was shy to pose together for the camera. When we asked why, Mrs. Khachatryan replied, “We have not taken a photo in so long, I don’t know how to behave.” Mr. Khachatryan laughed and said, “This is how!” and threw his arms around her and her face was crimson.

Mr. and Mrs. Khachatryan

Mr. Khachatryan wants to work and do more for the family, but due to his declining health, it is difficult for him to aid his wife with the cultivation of their land. He said, “I wish I can do more to help my son and wife, but since I can’t, I am very thankful for Habitat’s support.” 

We walked away from the Khachatryan’s family with a light heart, they brought much laughter into our trip, and we’re so happy to be a part of their new home.

Until next time, keep thinking positive thoughts!

Love,

Toquyen Doan

Peace Corps Volunteer

Armenia 2013-2015

Nora Aghamalyan's family

The Aghamalyan family of 5 lives in Ddmashen village, in the Gegharkunik region of Armenia. With a population of 2,300 people, and a growing interest in migrant work, this already small village is becoming smaller by the day. This situation is similar for the Aghamalyan family, Nora Aghamalyan (50) and Volodya Aghamalyan (50) lives in Ddmashen, but their three sons, Hakob (26), Garik (25) and Gor (23) currently lives in Russia for construction work. 

Nora in her kitchen

Kitchen

Fruit preserves for the winter

Hallway      

Her son's bedroom

Front of the house

For a long time, Nora and her family had to live with their siblings, whom have families of their own. When the sibling’s families expanded to three generation in one household, it was impossible for Nora’s family to live under the same roof. The family then found a temporary shelter in the community center of the village. Due to the decline in population, and an increase in abandon homes, properties were at an all time low. The family seized this opportunity to purchase their first home. However, the house lacked basic utilities, making it unsafe and unhealthy. 

Nora is a homemaker, and sells her dairy in the village and capital Yerevan to earn money. Her husband, Volodya, is a guard in the local village municipality. With their income, it was impossible to renovate their home, especially with Armenia’s high interest rate on loans. Also, Nora and Hakob have health problems, and a lot of their income went towards their treatment and medicine. It was only possible for the family to renovate their home through Habitat’s low-interest rate credit. 

 Nora shares, “We have lived in these conditions for many years that it is hard to believe our dream of having a decent home has become a reality. My family and I, we are very excited by the partnership with Habitat Armenia. We needed support and I believe God heard our prayers and gave us a hand up out of this difficult situation.”  

Volodya and Nora

Nora

Nora in her garden 

Framed picture of Habitat's Global Village team in her living room

Through their partnership with Habitat Armenia, the family’s living condition positively changed. This is the second time Nora’s family is partnering with Habitat. On their first experience, Nora hosted a Global Village team of international volunteers from Canada. Together the people of Canada and the people of Armenia worked together for two weeks to renovate a portion of Nora’s home. After the renovation, the representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church blessed Nora’s house, an event that brought her great joy. Nora had such a wonderful experience with Habitat; she had decided to partner with our organization again. This time, she renovated her sons’ bedrooms and living room. Nora and her family now feels safer, and hope to finish the renovation of their home within the next year. 

Until next time, keep thinking positive thoughts! 

Love, 

Toquyen Doan 

Peace Corps Volunteer 

Armenia 2013-2015 

TURNING HOPE INTO HOMES

Dear partners,

We, at Habitat for Humanity Armenia, would like to thank you for your recent donations of $30,500 to our cause of providing safe, decent and affordable shelters to low-income families living in substandard housing conditions.  Thanks to your support, we were enabled to  serve 10 more families within the framework of Housing Micro finance project in Tavush and Gegharkunik regions. 

The donations were made between February to June, 2014 by:

Habitat for Humanity Greater Cincinnati: $9,640

Tony Safoian and Sada Systems: $6,000

Greg Apkarian: $3,500

Habitat for Humanity Michigan:4,160

Parsekian Foundation: $1,000

Habitat for Humanity of Bergen County: $6,200

Here are the names of the families that benefited from your contributions: 

Hanreta Sedrakyan, Marine Beglaryan, Narine Saghatelyan, Nina Sardaryan, Karine Vardanyan, Armenuhi Sargsyan, Vergush Sardaryan, Gyulnara Gyozalyan, Robert Ghazaryan, Seda Parsadanyan.

To learn more about these families and how Habitat Armenia's intervention has changed their lives, please read the stories below. 

HFHA offers to families a hands-up partnership opportunity. Habitat homeowner families build their own home with an affordable, long-term mortgage and also contribute hundreds of hours of volunteer labor or "sweat equity." The mortgage payments go into a "Revolving Fund for Humanity" which is used to build more homes, thereby providing the financial foundation for a sustainable community development effort.

Our goal is to continue to make a difference in the lives of the people. Your support is a great motivation for us and gives us courage and energy to move towards our goal of building better future for families living in substandard housing conditions. 
Thank you again for your partnership and dedication to Habitat for Humanity Armenia's mission. 

Subscribe to our blog for new posts and updates through "Follow by e-mail" window in right side of the blog. 

Hanreta Sedrakyan's family

This property was passed down to two brothers, whom now are grandfathers. The brothers got married and started their family in this house, and now both of the brother’s sons are having kids of their own. Last year, the house was split into two, and to make it suitable for the three-generation family, the homes will expand.

Front door  

Renovated bathroom 

Renovated showers 

Kitchen and hallway next to the new bathroom and shower

Mr. Sedrakyan did the renovation of the home, “I am the constructor, designer, and architect of this house!” he said proudly, and righteously so, the repair is alluring!

Upstairs

Bedroom

Mr. Sedrakyan

Mrs. and Mr. Sedrakyan

View of downstairs

Mr. Sedrakyan's mother 

The family owns a small piece of land and cultivates it for food and income. The men in the family are migrant workers, whom will most likely spend the next few months in Armenia to finish the refurnishing of their home. “If we don’t finish at least one of the bedroom before November, this will be a very difficult winter for my mother, wife, and grandchildren.”

In winter, Armenia is radiant with snow, the air is crisp, and the sun is vivid. Due to the lack of proper heating, a lot of Armenians fear this marvelous season. I hope through Habitat’s assistant, this season will soon be embraced. Until next time, keep thinking sweet thoughts!

Love,

Toquyen Doan

Peace Corps Volunteer

Armenia 2013-2015