YEREVAN, Armenia – In its ongoing commitment to the development of Armenia, the H. Hovnanian Family Foundation has identified organizations with solid and scalable plans to facilitate the development of Armenia, and more recently the integration of Armenians from Artsakh into Armenia more smoothly. In 2023, the Foundation awarded a total of $706,971 (USD) to 25 non-profit organizations as part of its grants program, including seven Emergency Grants totaling $222,284 meant to address immediate needs following the large-scale attack and subsequent ethnic cleansing of Artsakh.
These grantees have projects to provide psycho-social services, facilitate permanent job placements, supply displaced populations from Artsakh with medication, offer legal assistance, restart school operations, and train and hire various employees.
Three organizations that have received grant funding are dedicated to enhancing the well-being and empowerment of people from Artsakh. They address both immediate needs and long-term sustainability through psycho-social services and job placements.
Specifically, Women’s Rights House (WRH) is providing 70 Artsakh women in Gyumri with psycho-social services and permanent jobs, HubArtsakh is delivering legal assistance and employment support to the forcibly displaced Artsakh population, and the Armenian Association of Social Workers (AASW) is receiving support to establish psycho-social services within expanded communities, including an outreach component dedicated to displaced populations. This is achieved through training and hiring social workers from Artsakh to be integrated into service provision.
Within the field of education, grant funding has been allocated to support two initiatives: Artsakh’s Moonq Techno School to revitalize its operation in Armenia, and the Aren Mehrabyan Charitable Foundation to provide vocational training for individuals from Artsakh and facilitate secure job placements for them. Two more organizations are receiving grant funding, one to provide essential medication for the targeted population displaced from Artsakh, namely the VIVA Foundation, and Rerooted Archives, which is actively contributing to the preservation of narratives and lived experiences through the collection of testimonies from individuals who have arrived from Artsakh.
Prior to September, the H. Hovnanian Family Foundation had already made significant grant contributions in 2023. A total of $484,687 was awarded to 18 non-profit organizations. These grants support projects in various key areas, including cultural preservation and the arts, education, IT/entrepreneurship, public health, and initiatives focused on youth and rural development:
Youth Development:
- Aralez NGO and Our Lady of Armenia: Funding for summer camps in Sevan and Tsaghkadzor.
- Girls of Armenia Leadership Soccer (GOALS): Grant for a coach mentoring program for national expansion.
Arts and Cultural Preservation:
- Sunrise Stepanakert, Tumanyan Development Foundation and Improve Our Village NGO: Organizing rural festivals to celebrate Armenian culture, including the International Storytelling Festival, Gata Festival, and Arishta Festival.
- Theater Workers’ Union: Annual award ceremony funding.
- ReAnimania NGO: Support for the International Animation Festival in Yerevan.
Education:
- NPATAK Educational Foundation, Kapan Math Club, New Generation School NGO, Strong Mind NGO, and Tumanyan Development Foundation: Grants for various educational programs fostering literacy, science, and the arts.
IT/Entrepreneurial Sector:
- EPIC Center at AUA: Study tour to Silicon Valley for 12 students.
- ReArmenia: New features on fundraising and mentorship platform for contributions.
Public Health and Medical Needs:
- Syunik Development NGO: Mobile dental clinic in the Vayots Dzor region.
- Santé Arménie: Operational costs for a medical center in Yerevan.
- Health For Armenia (HFA): Placement of medical professionals in Armenia’s regions.
All grants awarded by the H. Hovnanian Family Foundation are dedicated to serving the development of a strong and secure Armenia. Proposals are reviewed on a rolling basis via its website hovnanianfoundation.org, and non-profit organizations are required to take a simple online quiz to determine if they meet all eligibility criteria prior to receiving a grant application for submission.
Since the Foundation’s establishment in 1986, H. Hovnanian Family Foundation has earmarked over $75 million to hundreds of initiatives and projects for charitable, educational, scientific, cultural, and other related purposes with a primary focus on assisting Armenian communities worldwide as well as organizations in Monmouth and Ocean Counties in the state of New Jersey.
