Մեր մասինAbout
A place at the table for Armenia’s youngest and oldest
Orran began in 2000 as a haven for children with no safe place to spend their days, and for elders with no one left to look after them. Twenty-six years on, two centers in Yerevan and Vanadzor still keep the first promise: a warm meal, steady care, and a future worth working toward. The aim, then and now: stop the spread of poverty and begging, and replace it with opportunity, security, and a sense of belonging.
Founded 2000 · Yerevan (est. 2000) · Vanadzor (est. 2009)
Orran means haven, or cradle. The name was the whole plan.
ՍկիզբըThe beginning
It began with sixteen children and a rented room
In April 2000, Armine and Raffi Hovannisian opened Orran in a single rented room in Yerevan, with sixteen children who had been spending their days on the street instead of in school. Within six months, forty children and twenty-six elders were coming through the door.
The dual mission held from the very first week. Children pulled back from begging and hunger, and elderly neighbors living alone, who in those early years ate at the same tables. Not charity handed down from above, but a second home, open five days a week, for as long as anyone needed it.
Երկու տունThe centers
Two centers, one promise
Yerevan
Est. 2000 · YerevanThe first center opened in a rented room. Later, generous contributions from the Hovannisian/Kotchosolian families and Gerard and Leo Cafesjian made it possible to build a four-story center nearby.
Vanadzor
Est. 2009 · Krikor & Anna KrikorianIn 2009 a second center opened in Vanadzor, in Armenia's north, endowed by and named for its benefactors, Krikor and Anna Krikorian. It brought the same warm table to a new region.
The Krikorians, Vanadzor benefactors
Երկու սերունդTwo generations
The young and the old, two kinds of care
Figures provided by Orran · EIN 95-4841165
More than 40,000 people have received help since 2000, including refugees from Lebanon, Syria, and Artsakh. This includes assistance beyond the two centers.
For the children
A hot meal to start the day, homework with professional teachers, arts, counseling, and apprenticeships that turn teenagers into earners. The goal is never dependence. It is a trade, a wage, and a life of their own. Children also receive clothing, winter shoes, school uniforms and supplies, and Christmas gifts.
For the elders
Elderly neighbors receive a weekly food basket to take home, take part in Orran’s senior choir, and receive donated clothing when available. When an emergency arises, Orran also helps with urgent needs, such as buying medicine, and with government services and pensions. The choir performs with the children and gives concerts outside Orran.
ՄիացիրJoin us
Help write the next chapter
For twenty-six years, the tables have stayed set because people who never met these children decided they mattered. A single dollar feeds a child for a day. Your gift keeps the door open.
$1 feeds a child for a day · EIN 95-4841165 · US tax-deductible