Purchase a Home 15 – Boghosian Family

Following the 1988 Spitak Earthquake, tens of thousands of people were left homeless in the City of Gyumri. Many of these families took refuge in the overseas shipping containers (domiks) that were shipped into Armenia loaded with humanitarian relief supplies, or in condemned buildings. An entire generation of children has grown up in deplorable conditions, often times with no running water and little or no heat. The Armenian government has provided most of the families that lost their homes in the Earthquake with new housing units.

As people moved out of those makeshift housing units, others moved in. The 2,500 families that remain are Gyumri’s desolate families, who are not in line to receive a government provided apartment. Many of these families are comprised of single mothers, multiple children and/or the disabled. This is a sustainable model in that families that have been moved into permanent housing in the past have had a high degree of success maintaining their families and their new homes.

Anna Boghosian is a single mother.  Her husband abandoned the family just before their youngest child was born.  Because of the difficult conditions in their domik, the girls have attended boarding school for the last several years.  Anna’s father also lives with them.  He is a war hero from the Artsakh war and was a tank gunner.  He spent the last year in Russia working to try and earn some money to make improvements to the families domik. The Boghosyan family will dramatically benefit from a new home.

Once the move is complete, the make shift housing unit will be destroyed to prevent its future occupancy.