LOCATIONS OF FACILITIES SOAR SUPPORTS

Ada Keshishyants Social Rehabilitation Center for Children with Developmental Disabilities is the first of its kind in Vanadzor. The Center serves as a non-residential facility for children with developmental, emotional, intellectual, physical, and psychological disabilities in Vanadzor, Armenia.

Children’s Home of Gyumri houses children with special needs ages 18 years and younger.

Community Development and Social Support Center (CDSSC), located in Gyumri, is a non-residential center that offers alternative care to children with special needs ages 6-18 and their families. The Center started its activities in 2012.

Dzorak Care Center in Yerevan served as an orphanage for 400 children during the 1940s. In 1959, it became a boarding school for children from underprivileged families.  Today, Dzorak serves as an orphanage and nursing home adults with severe physical and psychological disabilities who have outgrown the traditional orphanage.

Gavar Orphanage houses healthy children between the ages of 3 and 18.

Kharberd Orphanage in Yerevan houses children and young adults with severe disabilities.

Mari Izmirlyan Orphanage in Yerevan houses children with special needs between the ages of 6 and 18.

Nakashian Children’s Support Center (House of Hope-Mer Hooys)  houses teenage girls in the Arapkir district of Yerevan. The girls receive language and job skills training, computer instruction, life skills training, psychological support, and hope, confidence, and love.

Orran, “haven” in Armenian, was established in Yerevan in April 2000 and expanded to Vanadzor in 2009. Today, Orran supports approximately 95 seniors and 200 children across Armenia.

Our Lady of Armenia Annie Bezikian Youth Center in Kanaker houses girls between the ages of 16 and 22 who have outgrown the traditional orphanage and are transitioning to independent living. The Center is operated by the Armenian Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, a religious order of nuns established in 1847.

Our Lady of Armenia Center in Gyumri houses healthy children between the ages of 6 and 18. The Center is operated by the Armenian Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, a religious order of nuns established in 1847.

Our Lady of Armenia Educational Center in Tashir, Armenia, is operated by the Armenian Sisters of the Immaculate Conception and provides meals and after-school activities to approximately 30 orphaned and otherwise needy children.

Our Lady of Armenia Educational Center Summer Camp in Tashir, Armenia, hosts approximately 50 children ages 7-15 for four weeks throughout the summer. The Camp provides nutritious food, physical rest, recreational activities, educational opportunities, and religious experiences to children from the Tashir community.

Our Lady of Armenia Center Summer Camp (Tsaghgadzor) hosts approximately 800 children throughout the summer, in four 16-day sessions. The Camp provides nutritious food, physical rest, recreational activities, and religious-educational experiences both to orphan and otherwise needy children throughout Armenia.

Prkutyun is a day center in Armenia that offers nourishment, educational, and therapeutic services to children and young adults with disabilities.

Republican Special Educational Complex No 1 State Non-Commercial Organization (Vardashen) is a state boarding school in Yerevan housing primarily delinquent children between the ages of 6 and 18.

Saint Gregory of Narek Students’ Home (SGNSH) opened in the fall of 2024 in Yerevan and is a residential center for up to 30 young Armenian boys from socially and economically vulnerable families from across Armenia. All living expenses, including university tuition, are provided by SGNSH. Residents are accepted based on family situation, recommendation from their parish priest, and academic achievements.

Shirak Marz Child and Family Support Center located in Gyumri, is a merger of two childcare centers: Gyumri Social Childcare Center and the Orphanage of Fridtjof Nansen. The new Center is a hybrid facility that provides day services to families whose children are at risk for institutionalization while serving as a residential setting for children without permanent familial care.

Sisters of Charity (SOC) (Bethlehem and Spitak) is a Catholic religious order established by Mother Teresa to tend to “the poorest of the poor.”  SOC-Bethlehem is a private orphanage outside of Yerevan that houses very young children with severe physical and mental disabilities. SOC-Spitak is a private orphanage that houses teenagers and adults with severe physical and mental disabilities.

SOAR’s Transitional Centers (one in Gyumri and two in Yerevan) are residential settings for older teenagers who have outgrown the traditional orphanage but who are not yet ready for independent living.  The residents go to college; assist with SOAR’s online business; are enriched by SOAR’s academic programs; appreciate volunteerism; learn essential life skills, including home and money management; build self-nurturance and self-confidence; and prepare themselves for emotional, fiscal, and professional independence.

SOS Children’s Villages’ Armenian Charity Foundation (Idjevan and Kotayk) is a child-centered organization whose core mission is to provide care and development for children without parental care and children in difficult life circumstances. In 1990, SOS Children’s Village in Kotayk opened its doors for children who had lost their parents in the earthquake. SOS Children’s Village in Idjevan was founded in 2009.

The Voice of the Armenian Church Orphan Summer Camp, operating under the auspices of the Eastern Prelacy, is held in the summer retreat of Tsaghgadzor and hosts 50 orphaned boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 16.  The Camp exposes the children to comfort, love, compassion, and care, while simultaneously instilling in them the love of Christ and the history of the Armenian Church.

Warm Hearth (3rd Village, Arinj, and Jermik Ankyun Geghanist) houses adults with mental disabilities who have outgrown the state-funded orphanages. The three facilities provide the residents with an alternative to psychiatric institutions, offering holistic care in a family-like setting.

Yerevan Children’s Home (Nork) in Yerevan, Armenia, houses children (both healthy and with special needs) ages 6 years and under. The director of the home is Lida Julikyan.

Yerevan Special School Number 11 (Nubarashen) is a state boarding school in Yerevan housing children with special needs.

Yerevan Ajapnyak Community Children’s Social Care Center was founded in July 2005 to support special needs children aged 6-18 years and their families who are experiencing difficult life circumstances and help facilitate their integration into society. The Center provides pedagogical, educational, and professional orientation services; psychological services, including play therapy, art therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy; primary health care and medical consulting; and rights protection and advocacy.

Zadik Yerevan Child Assistance Center is a state institution in Yerevan, Armenia, that houses approximately 21 children between the ages of 3 and 18 and serves 83 additional children non-residentially.