Fuller Center for Housing Armenia

FULLER CENTER FOR HOUSING (FCH) ARMENIA BACKGROUND

The Fuller Center for Housing Armenia is a covenant partner of the Fuller Center for Housing, established in the spring of 2005. After 29 years of unwavering and tireless service to the poor with Habitat for Humanity, Millard Fuller, the founder and president of Habitat for Humanity, was motivated to expand his vision of eliminating substandard housing worldwide. The Fuller Center for Housing Armenia was registered in the spring of 2008.

Mission and Goals

The Fuller Center for Housing Armenia (FCHA) is a non-governmental charitable organization that supports community development in the Republic of Armenia by assisting in building and renovating simple, decent and affordable homes, as well as advocating the right to a decent shelter as a matter of conscience and action. FCHA provides long-term, interest-free mortgage loans to low-income families. The monthly repayments flow into the Revolving Fund and are used to help more families, thereby providing financial foundation for sustainable community development.

Types of Programs

The construction programs of Fuller Center for Housing Armenia include but are not limited to the following: completion of a half-built house, purchase of an affordable apartment, roof reconstruction, heating and sanitation system installation, interior renovation.

Family Selection Criteria

The family selection criteria are:

Housing need

Ability to pay back the long-term, interest and inflation free housing loans

Willingness to partner with FCHA, partake in the work on their home, and assist in the building of other FCHA participants’ homes nearby.

There is no discrimination against partner families on the basis of ethnicity, religion or political affiliation.

Where We Build

Fuller Center for Housing Armenia works in all regions of Armenia and in the Republic of Artsakh. Since 2008 more than 450 families have been assisted.

Donors and Volunteers

To accomplish its mission, Fuller Center Armenia s garnering volunteer and financial support from individuals, organizations, corporate partners and churches. International and local volunteers come together to work shoulder to shoulder with the families and help decrease the construction costs.

Housing Need in Armenia

Of the approximately 800,000 families living in Armenia, about 40,000 or 5% are without permanent shelter. About 40% (2% of the total number of households) live in temporary structures, in most cases metal shipping containers, so-called domiks. Dormitories and damaged unsafe housing provide shelter to 10% of the households living in temporary shelters. Others live in former hotels, schools and kindergartens which were converted to temporary housing. Alongside those without permanent shelter are the tens of thousands of families requiring better housing conditions. Altogether it is estimated that approximately 100,000 households are either without permanent housing or need urgent assistance owing to, among other things, overcrowding .

Many families had begun to build their own homes after the collapse of Soviet Union.With the ensuing economic crisis, homes were left unfinished - thousands of these foundations and semi-structures can be seen littering the countryside. Many families live in the dark and dump basements of such houses unable to complete them.

Fuller Center Armenia recognized this as an opportunity to leverage resources already invested in housing solutions. Therefore, the program can help two or three families rather than one, since completing a half-built is more economical than beginning construction anew. Because of heavy rains, and lack of maintenance, the roofs of many Armenian houses are severely deteriorated - slates are often broken, and rainwater leaks in. Besides, most roofs are made of asbestos, which is a hazard for the health of the residents.

Fuller Center replaces broken asbestos roofs with corrugated tin roofs on timber framework.

Volunteer in Armenia with Global Builders program!!!

The construction sites, where the international volunteers and locals build hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, with the spirit of friendship and unity, sharing the same enthusiasm and emotions, become a non-formal platform of interaction between the guests and the local community. This program helps strengthen the cultural and spiritual bridge between the local and international communities, demonstrating the love of Christ in action. 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.

2016 SCHEDULE FOR GLOBAL BUILDERS VOLUNTEERS' TEAMS

Vanadzor site

July 17 – 29, team leaders, Leo and Sona Manuelian, open team

For more information or to connect to team leaders, please send an email to fcarmenia@fcharmenia.org.

==Donate and Help us Rebuild Armenia==

Gifts to The Fuller Center are tax-deductible.

To support our project, you can make an [1] or send a check to:

The Fuller Center for Housing

PO Box 523
Americus, GA 31709

Please add "Armenia" in the memo line.

You can also transfer your donation directly to our bank account in Armenia if you do not need a tax receipt.

Ameriabank CJSC, Yerevan

ACC 15700 05330400101

SWIFT code: ARMIAM22

COR.ACC. 04437701

Correspondent bank:Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, New York, USA

SWIFT code: BKTRUS33

Visit Fuller Center for Housing Official Website for more information on TFCH; visit Fuller Center for Housing Armenia to learn more about our activities in Armenia.

About The Fuller Center for Housing, Inc.:
The Fuller Center for Housing was founded in the spring of 2005 at Koinonia Farm in rural southwest Georgia. After 29 years of tireless service to the poor with Habitat for Humanity, Millard Fuller, the founder and president of Habitat, was motivated to expand his vision of eliminating substandard housing worldwide. The Fuller Center for Housing, faith driven and Christ centered, promotes collaborative and innovative partnerships with individuals and organizations in an unrelenting quest to provide adequate shelter for all people in need worldwide. TFCH has programs in 35 U.S. communities and in 12 countries around the world.

EXTERNAL LINKS

• http://www.fcharmenia.org
• http://www.fullercenter.org