More than 150 children with mental and physical disabilities are served thanks to JMP’s funding and oversight
October 8, 2024
The playground at the Sevan Rehabilitation Center. (Contributed photo)
September 2019: My first trip to Armenia with the Jinishian Memorial Program (JMP) and I knew almost nothing about their work. On one of our excursions in the Armenian countryside, we stopped to visit a dilapidated building, the concrete crumbling, windows broken, stairs not safe to walk on, the grounds overgrown with weeds. It was difficult at best to see the JMP’s vision for this place. That vision was to establish the Sevan Rehabilitation Center (SRC) assuming all the necessary pieces of the project, including funding, came together. The local team’s enthusiasm was apparent and contagious as they described the plans for this endeavor.
Fast forward to June 2024, and I have returned for another visit to Armenia with JMP, with a better understanding of the work they do. Our first stop on day one was a visit to the SRC, and I was anxious to see this dream realized. June 1 was chosen to visit SRC as this is National Children’s Day in Armenia — a celebration of, and for, the children of Armenia. A fitting day to visit this center providing therapy for children with mental and physical disabilities; a much-needed resource for rural Armenia.
The building had undergone extensive renovation and reconstruction and is now a beautiful facility. The offices and therapy rooms are brightly colored, with daylight pouring in through new windows. Therapeutic toys are neatly stacked on shelves. Therapists are successfully working with children, one-on-one, to improve their ability to function, both mentally and physically. The grounds boast a new playground, with children running and playing with abandon. Several of them were singing songs they had learned just for our visit!
With support from the Jinishian Memorial Program, the Sevan Rehabilitation Center in Armenia serves 150 children. (Contributed photo)
It brought tears to my eyes to see the progress that JMP had made to make this dream a reality. The center opened in 2022, a mere three years from start to finish, and now serves about 150 children with another 200 on the waiting list. (They have also added therapy for adults with disabilities as well.) Of the approximately 150 children served here, the majority receive services at the center for six months of the year, and six months of services in their home, with the calendar starting over each year. Approximately 28 children have issues severe enough that they receive all their therapy at the center year-round. It is through generous donors, both individual and institutional, that any of this is even possible. The Sevan Rehab Center is now run by the government with oversight by JMP to maintain the necessary exacting standards for services, as well as training for the therapists and staff. As they train and add more staff, they will be able to provide these much-needed services to more children.
As with any project of this caliber, struggles, delays and government red tape are all too common in the U.S., and I assume in Armenia as well. But as the JMP team shared the story of the birth of this project, it was obvious that their excitement and pride far exceeded any of the issues that may have been prevalent.
We went on to visit three businesses that day (and several others over the course of 10 days) supported through the Youth Business Armenia Project which were developed and implemented by JMP to empower young entrepreneurs in Armenia to start and maintain their dream businesses.
And while all the business owners we visited were excited about their work and were flourishing, for me the Sevan Rehab Center is the crown jewel of JMP’s many initiatives. I think it’s safe to say that a society’s values are apparent in how they provide for and support their children. Armenia values her children — and the Sevan Rehab Center stands as a testament to that shared belief.
To learn more about the Jinishian Memorial Program, visit the website or sign up to receive JMP’s quarterly newsletter. To read the first story in this series highlighting the JMP, click here.
Go here for information about the 2025 JMP Study Tour.
The Rev. Vicki Sauter is a retired pastor with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. She’s also worked as a school social worker and a mental health worker on a hospital psychiatric unit. Armenian on her mother’s side, her fondest memories are living as a young child, along with her mother and sister, with her maternal grandparents. Her grandmother was originally from Yerevan and arrived in the U.S. in the early 1900s. Her two trips to Armenia, both with Jinishian Memorial Program, have felt like “coming home.”
Daily Readings
Today’s Focus: Jinishian Memorial Program
Let us join in prayer for:
PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Roger Spalding, Prospect Research Analyst, Relationship & Development Operations, Ministry Engagement & Support, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)
Frank Spencer, President, Board of Pensions
Let us pray
Lord God, we give thanks for what brings us together and the tools we can use to spread your good news. May we all find the courage to follow your Holy Spirit into a changing and sometimes daunting world. In Christ’s holy name we pray. Amen.
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