About Us

SOAR’s Transitional Center is the first of its kind in Gyumri – a residential setting for older teenage girls who have outgrown the traditional orphanage but who are not yet ready for independent living.  At our new Center, these young women attend college; are learning business skills; are enriched by our academic programs; appreciate volunteerism; learn essential life skills, including home and money management; build self-nurturance and self-confidence; and prepare themselves for emotional, fiscal, and professional independence.

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The opportunities for orphaned girls in Armenia after graduating from high school, and aging out of their residential childcare institutions, are limited. To address problems associated with early marriage, prostitution, and human trafficking, SOAR opened its Transitional Center in December 2019 as a residential setting for older teenage girls who have outgrown the traditional orphanage but who are not yet ready for independent living.  Here, these young women attend college; cultivate a business; are enriched by our academic programs; appreciate volunteerism; learn essential life skills, including home and money management; build self-nurturance and self-confidence; and prepare themselves for emotional, fiscal, and professional independence.

Gyumri So-Art was developed for the social adaptation of orphans, to provide basic professional skills and to educate them on fiscal independence. We approach our handcraft business to educate our young women in entrepreneurial rather than consumer thinking and to help them appreciate the importance of financial security in the early stages of independent living. Those orphans could leave the walls of a boarding school or orphanage being self-sufficient, socially adapted, active and confident.

Here, the young women create tote bags, Marash bags, tablecloths, table runners, pillowcases, and so much more. By supporting our workshop, you not only get quality handcrafts from Armenia but also help our young women acquire professional skills. This is your contribution to Armenia’s future!

Marash was a form of embroidery popular among the Armenians of Marash, a city in Cilician Armenia near the Mediterranean Sea. Created by weaving a surface pattern through a lattice framework of two rows, it was originally used for decorating various household textiles, usually furnishings. Embroidery was also used for religious purposes, such as decorations for church objects or vestments for priests.  These could be crosses in the style of Armenian khachkars, but also patterns of flowers or other geometrical designs.