Hello, I am Martina Hornickova, humanitarian and social worker, now volunteering in Gyumri, Armenia. Over the past few weeks I have been working with volunteers in Birthright Armenia and European Volunteer Services (EVS) to create this campaign. Gyumri has many positives but sadly many live in poor condition. Open Youth House is the project which is trying to help youngsters who are living in poor conditions. Join me in helping the youngsters see a brighter Armenian future.

Who we work for:
270 000 children and youngsters are living in Armenia. 41.4% of children and youth in Armenia are in low income familes; for children and youth poverty means lack of access to essential nutrition, basic services, sport and leisure, and in some cases, even to the love of a family. Poverty in the first years of life hinders the development of children’s full potential, signing their lives forever. (UNICEF Armenia)
In Gyumri - the second biggest city of Armenia, child poverty is the highest in Armenia. The city still struggles to recover from the terrible Spitak Earthquake of 1988 as a result of which majority of Gyumri youngsters (8107 persons age 13-18, NSS Armenia) live in severe conditions, facing poverty and exclusion on daily basis. Very few youngsters follow their calling or have high hopes and aspiration for their future. The low quality of education, which an average Gyumri youngster’s family can afford, would inevitably lead to their future unemployment or to a low paid job, reproducing the current living conditions and the risky behaviors over generations. They spend most of their time on the streets, and are inclined to show deviant behaviours. Social stigma and lack of a stable, supportive environment diminish the self-efficacy needed to succeed in their lives. In the best case, to break the chain of poverty and exclusion, many young people move away from their hometown, without any hope for positive change in Gyumri.

What we do:
Professional work with young people and free of charge social services in one of the remote neighbourhoods of Gyumri has the full potential to bridge the existing gap and offer personal development and non-formal learning possibilities in a safe and youth-friendly environment.
To undertake this task Gyumri “Youth Initiative Centre” NGO (YIC), being one of the few Armenia organizations, experienced in professional youth work, has opened the “Youth House: Open Youth Centre in Gyumri” in May 2018 to pilot an integrated, empowering and innovative approach to youth work in Armenia through an Open Youth Work model of social work. The centre serves 600 young people per year.
Open Youth Work, is a form of social work, on the basis of voluntary involvement of beneficiaries. It offers young people developmental and educational experiences aimed at meeting their needs and empowering them to play an active part in the society. By applying this approach the “Youth House” is targeting socially marginalized youth with weakened or severed family and social ties.
The ''Youth House'' in Gyumri is opened from Tuesday to Saturday weekly, as well as on occasional free days and school holidays for young people aged 13-18. The ''Youth House'' offers a wide range of services, including various trainings providing life and marketable skills, individual or group counselling, and non-formal and informal education. Such services are helping young people to enhance their self-esteem, achieve more control over their lives, and improve their chances for gaining development.
Since the opening of the ''Youth House'' in May 2018, we reached 297 unique beneficiaries (3,6% of overall youth population of the city). The average daily attendance is 35 young people, which is almost twice as much as we expected in the planning phase.

How we can grow:
We are very thankful to all who have helped us get here and your generosity continues to impact the lives of many youngsters. As demand for the ''Youth House'' grows so do operational costs, to be able to serve more youngsters we need an estimated EUR 18 000 ($20,500 USD) for 2019. Below you can see how your donation can directly help a youngster get the support they need. Any contribution can make a difference. Thank You !
If you would like more information on YIC please visit these following links:

• Website - https://yic.am/en/

• Facebook - https://web.facebook.com/YICgyumri/

• Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/user/YICArmenia

• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/yicngo/