Building on Faith in process
The “Building on Faith” Project was started on July 21, 2009 with the blessing of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians and with the efforts of local and international volunteers. As a result of this partnership between the Armenian Holy Apostolic church and The Fuller Center for Housing Armenia, 20 families will soon have a decent place to live in and raise their children to be healthy and happy.
Five families out of 20 have already moved into their completed their homes; the rest will be able to complete their homes this summer. The selected families are spread in 11 different communities.
The Torosyan family from the Khor Virap, Ararat region is one of the selected families. They have completed their house and celebrated its dedication on Sept. 4, 2009. The family consists of five people. The father is a veterinary and the mother is managing family’s farm. Previously they have been living in their parents’ house that was damaged and needed urgent reconstruction. “It is very difficult for me to express my feelings. It is the happiness of a mother who knows that now her children and grandchildren are under a safe roof and have a healthy yet simple place to live,” Seda, the grandmother in the family, said.
Another selected family, the Nazaryans from Lusadzor village, lived in a “domik” (metal container) for 13 years. Currently they are building their home and should complete it soon.
The mother of the family expressed: “Now I believe in miracles. After 13 years of living in a metal container I have already lost hope that someday we will have an opportunity to live in a decent, healthy home. And now this dream is so close.”
The celebration of joy: Story of Aslanyan family
In 1994, Hakob Aslanyan moved back into his parents’ home where he lived with his brother and his brother’s family. It was very difficult while they all lived in this 30 sq./m home. In order to be able to afford building their future home, Hakob was working very hard each day.
The Aslanyan family from Ujan village was looking forward to having a completed home of their own one day. However, in 1990, Hakob had to go into the army to protect the borders of his homeland. His wife and two daughters had no choice but to move in and live with Hakob’s parents.
One of Hakob’s friends owned a half-built home and suggested that the family might want to invest in the half-built home and pay him back slowly. In 1998, the Aslanyan family moved to that half-built home. Hakob was trying to build the house but with the limited income he received as a driver, it was impossible to take care of the family expenses in addition to completing the house construction.
In 2008, when Hakob’s second and youngest son was born, the family managed to finish another room by selling some of the cattle.
The Aslanyan family prayer was heard when, in 2009, they were selected as a partner family of The Fuller Center for Housing Armenia and as part of the “Building on Faith” project, their house was completed. On Dec. 26, 2009 the Aslanyans celebrated their Home Blessing ceremony. Today the two sisters are honor students attending the Yerevan State University.
“Everything looks like a miracle. Sometimes I think this is a dream and soon I will wake up…but no, thanks God, no, that is true. It is real. Our children are in a safe house now. Now our family prays for those in housing need, for those parents and children that are homeless and have no roof over them. Thanks to all our supporters we have our own home. May God bless them all,” Shahandukht, the mother of the Aslanyan family, said.
 Join us in this life-transforming experience: come to Armenia for a 10-14 day-long trip to build and interact with Armenian families, and to see the ancient country of Armenia! Dreams come true
About 19 years Senik and Karine Karapetyans with their 4 children were forced to move from place to place having no permanent place to live, struggling against winter cold, daily fighting for their children’s health and praying for the next day is not that harsh. Just a year ago the family could not even imagine that soon will have their own home, that their children will also wake up under a safe roof, and that the Christmas of 2010 will become a celebration of realization of their dream. The Best Birthday For The Volunteer Just think about celebrating your birthday by helping a family in need and build a house with them and with your colleagues. This is how Izabella Sargsyan from KPMG Armenia celebrated her birthday on September 17. When the organization was planning to join and build with the Fuller Center she was more than happy to land a hand to a family in need on her own birthday. From KPMG Armenia 7 employees with Nina Soghoyan, the head of Social Corporate Responsibility department joined their efforts to help Karapetyan family to fill the basement of their new house. Karapetyan family of 5 lives in Haytagh village with their extended family, total 12 people in a small house. The kids are growing, the space is tight… 
16 Families Who Have Been Waiting for More Than 20 Years Are Now Close to Their Dream The temporary housing district formed in Vanadzor after the 1988 earthquake turned into permanent shelter for many families who survived the disaster that killed some 27,000 people. Many children grew up in the temporary shelters and now their children are growing up in the same conditions… Ghazaryan Family
After the earthquake in 1988, they lost all their hopes to get a house from the government. The life went on harder. They have 4 children; 2 daughters and twin brothers. It was very difficult for the family to live in the miserable conditions of the domik with 6 members but still they were forced to spend there 20 years of their life. In 2003 their elder daughter got married. The children became adults and the domik was becoming more and more unbearable. In 2000, they found that Garnik has got a stomach ulcer and could not work for quite a long time. Susanna didn’t work, either. Their only income was the welfare from the government, which was hardly buying food for the day. In 2004 Susanna found a job. She is a ticket-collector at the local Culture Palace. In 2006 Garnik got well and started to help his parents in the village with farming, which was also bringing income. The family hopes not to have any health problems in their new safe and healthy home. Nazlukhanyan Family
Those were difficult times. They twice moved from one rented house to another. However, they lived with the hope, that they will get apartment soon. They were following the construction of the house which had been building at that time, but was stopped soon after the earthquake in 1988. Soon after the earthquake they moved to the domik, as they had a handicapped child, who would not be able to escape from a building if there happened to be more shakings. But it did not save their son. In 1993 their birth-handicapped son passed away. Thus the family lived in the domik for already 21 years and was homeless for 33 years. It became a great happiness for them to be involved into this project, that after they were selected, they kept visiting our office for several times and asked if they are really selected. And still cannot believe their happiness.
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On November 14, 2009 employees of Fuller Center for Housing Armenia, Tufenkian Foundation,
After Susanna and Garnik married in 1981 and moved to Vanadzor they rented apartment to live in and were listed to get a home at the factory where Garnik had been working. 
Mikayel and Lida never had their own house since their marriage in 1976. Mickayel had 2 brothers living in his parents’ house in the village of Debed when he married. As he was the eldest among them, with the Armenian tradition, he had to leave his parents’ house. He moved with his family to Vanadzor and started a new life in a rented house. Mickayel found a job at the yarn factory. Later he was listed to get a house from the government, like most of the families at that time.