Warm Hearth A Community-based home for Armenian Orphans with Disabilities
warmhearth@gmail.com http://www.helpforarmenia.org/warmhearth.html		Founder, Natalie Rizzieri Country Director, Hripsime Kirakosyan

FORMER U.S. PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS AIM TO SAVE ORPHANED ARMENIANS WITH DISABILITIES FROM PSYCHIATRIC "GRAVEYARDS"

Group Home Will Be First in Armenia To Offer Long-Term Rehabilitative Care

YEREVAN, Armenia – On January 20^th, 2006 in Spandaryan Taghamas (3rd Gyugh) outside of Yerevan, a celebration took place to welcome eight adult orphans with disabilities into their new home, Warm Hearth.  Warm Hearth is a group home that offers long-term care to individuals without family that have mental and/or physical disabilities.  This is the first opportunity for long-term rehabilitative care in Armenia.  Warm Hearth is a pilot project that is the collaborative effort of former U.S. Peace Corps volunteers, Mission Armenia and Armenian Mental Health Foundation’s “Day Center”. 

One of the initial residents is Yulia, a 26-year-old woman whose parents abandoned her when she was 6 because she has autism. Yulia has since been shifted from orphanage to orphanage and was severely neglected until she was 15. As a result, she was profoundly underweight and did not speak for many years. Yulia is one of eight Armenians with disabilities who instead of being sent to a psychiatric hospital this year will move into the first Armenian group home with long-term care.

Warm Hearth is the brainchild of a former Peace Corps volunteer, Natalie Rizzieri, who served in Armenia for two years. She and another former volunteer, Bridget Anderson, have raised nearly $100,000 to open the group home.  The two hope Yulia and others like her will continue the progress they have made in recent years. Yulia now speaks and is learning to write.

Yulia and Warm Hearth’s other residents will have the opportunity to live with dignity, which will include increased independence.  For instance, they will raise some of their own food including chickens, fruits and vegetables, as well as participate in vocational trainings.  Residents will also attend “The Day Center”, a community day center for individuals with disabilities, providing opportunity for rehabilitation and re-integration into society. 

The project is meeting a dire need. Many countries in the former Soviet Union lack the infrastructure to adequately care for individuals with disabilities and mental illness.  The Ministry of Social Welfare and the Ministry of Education & Science Secondary Education Department are supportive of Warm Hearth due to the pressing need in Armenia.  Chief Specialist of the Secondary Education Department, Anahit Muradyan, emphasized the importance of projects such as Warm Hearth for the Education department as they face the challenge of what to do with orphans who reach the age of 18 but struggle with disabilities.  She is optimistic about collaboration and the development of this model in the future.

Present at the opening of Warm Hearth were Deputy Chief of US Mission Anthony Godfrey, U.S. Peace Corps Director Patrick Hart, Mission Armenia’s Hripsime Kirakosyan, USAID and various community members who have been supportive of this project since its inception.

Offering holistic care that integrates mind, body and soul

February 2, 2006

Former Peace Corps Volunteer Opens "Warm Hearth" Halfway House

On January 20, the first ever "halfway house" for persons with disabilities was opened near Yerevan. A group of Armenian young adults with mild physical and/or mental disabilities will now have a nurturing place to live and grow to be more productive members of society thanks to the tireless efforts and brilliant innovation of a group of individuals led by former U.S. Peace Corps volunteer Natalie Rizzieri. Natalie Rizzieri, one of more than 482 Peace Corps volunteers who have served in Armenia, worked for two years in an orphanage in Kapan. During her time there, she learned that once young adults with disabilities and without families grow too old to remain in orphanages, they are usually institutionalized for life in Armenia's mental institutions, with little hope for a productive life. Natalie decided to find a way to provide for a better, sustainable future for the children with whom she worked and to create an example for others to follow.

Working with officials at the orphanage in Kapan, with staff from the Peace Corps office in Yerevan and with other former volunteers, she devised a plan to raise funds, find a home, work with local officials, hire staff and to make a difference. With the support of Mission Armenia and together with the many life-long friends she made during her service in Armenia, Natalie presided over the opening of "Warm Hearth," a permanent home for a group of young Armenian adults.

U.S. assistance is often measured in terms of amounts of money. This event demonstrates the priceless nature of the service of America's Peace Corps. Eighty-two Peace Corps Volunteers are currently serving in Armenia.

U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Anthony Godfrey and Peace Corps Director Patrick Hart participate in the opening of  Warm Hearth.

Former Peace Corps volunteer Natalie Rizzieri celebrates the opening of "Warm Hearth" Halfway House.

Residents of "Warm Hearth" celebrate the opening of their new home.