Mer Hooys Celebrates Happy Engagement And Program Success Story

On Friday October 22, 2016, Mer Hooys celebrated the engagement of one of its original residents, Armine A. and Sooren Vardanyan. The engagement party took place at the Nakashian Children’s Support Center in Yerevan, where Mer Hooys operates. It was hosted by local donors in Armenia and Mer Hooys staff. Armine’s Mer Hooys sisters who joined the program with her in 2012 helped prepare for the celebration alongside the staff. Sooren’s family, Mer Hooys staff, and older residents joined the celebration. Mer Hooys mentor and liaison from the Mother See, Bishop Moushegh Babayan, and Rev. Father Margos Mangasaryan, Director of Mother See’s Social Services Department, will perform the official engagement ceremony at Etchmiadzin Cathedral. The couple plans a late spring wedding, and some of the Mer Hooys Board members will attend the wedding.

Armine is an example of the notable success that Mer Hooys has achieved in the four years it has operated. She came to Mer Hooys at the age of 14 years, after spending most of her life in an orphanage without any living parents or social guidance. She had no examples of a healthy family life while at the orphanage. She began to express herself through her art during the first 6 months at Nakashian Center, as she began to develop social skills and self-confidence as part of the Mer Hooys educational process. In May 2013, the First Lady of Armenia, Rita Sargsyan, saw Armine’s work during a visit to the Center. She helped Armine gain entrance to Terlemezyan Art College. That opportunity changed Armine’s life. Armine is now a prize winning artist with a collection of more than 30 paintings and drawings. More important, Armine has matured significantly with the constant counseling and support from Mer Hooys’ professional staff and her Mer Hooys sisters.

Mer Hooys board chairman, Hon. Adrienne Krikorian, reports: “Like other Mer Hooys program graduates, Armine has become self-confident, mature, understands the meaning of making her own decisions, and is socially a joy to be with. She actively mentors the younger girls at Mer Hooys. Her goal is to become a famous artist – she is well along the way to accomplishing that goal.” Armine, who recently turned 18 years old, is completing her final year of pre-graduate studies and will then continue her studies in the graduate program of Terlemezyan. Until her wedding, she will continue to live at Mer Hooys in the new transitional graduate apartment, where the older girls are learning to transition to healthy independent living while giving back to the Center by mentoring the younger children in the program.

Sooren and Armine are both exceptionally talented artists, who met at Terlemezyan. Sooren is a graduate art student and mentor at the Art College. He has become part of the Mer Hooys family in the past two years. He recently created three large paintings for the new prayer room at Nakashian Center.

Mer Hooys Board and the Western Diocese are so proud of Armine and excited to welcome Sooren as part of the Mer Hooys family. Congratulations Armine and Sooren and God Bless You!