Gender Equality Armenia Project #18472

LOCAL HANDICRAFTS FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

by Homeland Development Initiative Foundation

Project Report | Feb 3, 2026
Launching into 2026 with Crochet Hooks Blazing!!

By Timothy D. Straight | Founder and Executive Director

The Gyumri Ladies!

Times are rough, there's no doubt about that! The world is a complicated place with too many troubles to fully absorb. So it's our job to not get confused or distracted, but to focus even more on what our mandate is - to create sustainable incomes among vulnerable communities in Armenia. And so far in 2026, our hard work and laser focus is giving good results.

Our loyal distributor in the US has placed her first order for the year, and will arrive in late February to see our work in action. She has ordered her bread and butter products from Berd and Koghb in the northeast, Kapan in the south, and Vardenis up by Lake Sevan. We really appreciate her consistency in keeping those crochet hooks, sewing needles and paint brushes going!

We are in negotiations another US organization to resume delivers of carved wooden, ceramic and resin home decor and jewelry after a long pause. We are so happy to get this going again! More hands hard at work in Armenia!

We have an inquiry from a non-profit in the US for a fun little hand crocheted elephant that they expect to be ordering in pretty good quantities. This guy comes from Gyumri in the north.

Our distributor in the UK pulled back last year, but her clients are still asking for our products, so she has placed a nice order as well. That means Kapan, Talin, Koghb Gyumri will be working away on that order too!

And then there is the Duty Free client at the airport here in Yerevan. Nearly every month they are placing nice orders that support dozens and dozens of artisans across the country, mostly Talin, Kapan, Goris, Berd and Gyumri.

Then there is of course our fantastic Made51 partners who buy exclusively hand felted and embroidered items from refugee artisans in Armenia.

We don't want to jinx it, but for HDIF, 2026 has started off fairly (unexpectedly) well. We thank you for your support!

To remind us of why we do what we do, we included here portraits of a few of the women we support around the country. If ever in Armenia, please plan a visit to one or more of them to drink coffee and tell stories! These portraits are used on tags on every single product we sell. This because this women are the heart and sole of what we do.

Thank you!

Gohar in Kapan

Anush in Berd

Manush in Goghovit

Gayane in Talin

Maral from Aleppo

Satenik, Anna and Arusyak in Koghb

Lena and Armen in Vardenis

Links:

HDIF USA

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Oct 7, 2025
Our Battered Bears Fundraiser Has Taken Off!

By Timothy Straight | Founder and Executive Director

Available in beige, blue, and pink

During the last week of September in 2023, the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh fell. Nearly 120.000 ethnic Armenians were forced to flee. On September 25th, a tanker was allowed in to provide enough fuel for them to drive out, leaving everything they know behind, but at least with their lives. All the men of city of Stepanakert gathered around the tanker to get their few liters for the journey. Then it exploded, killing hundreds and wounding hundreds more. A fiery bloodbath. Among those were the son and son-in-law of Armine. The mens' hands scorched and faces seared, they were flown out by helicopter. Armine, her husband and their two daughters escaped a couple days later, as much of their belongings as they could piled on the roof of their car - boxes of the most cherished items, chairs, a mattress.

A couple months ago, Armine walked into our office one day here in Yerevan, downtrodden and quiet. She looked at our crocheted items. When I asked what she wanted, she nervously pulled a crocheted bear out of her bag and asked if we could sell it. She broke down as she told her story. The bear had hashtags on it, appearing to have been beaten.

Armine was beaten up - by the burden of two men in her family still needing daily medical care, by losing her home and land, by not being able to find a job, by life. I thought long and hard that evening about whether it's right to help one individual and her family with a project, but thought of the old proverb 'save one and save the world'. I looked at the bear again, and baptized it Battered Bear, because we are all feeling battered in this complicated world. I thought that might be something people could relate to. And boy did they. Armine has been making 16 Battered Bears a week since then, and we pay her as she delivers, on the spot. So far, Armine has gotten orders for about 464 bears....way beyond our expectations, but guaranteeing her work for months, all the way up to Christmas and beyond. They've been shipped to the UK, Norway, Australia, Belgium, the US and more. Some people want just to make a donation. The bears made with those donations will be given out by an Armenian Santa at a Christmas party for kids from Nagorno Karabakh in December here in Yerevan.

Needless to say, Armine is a different woman today than she was that first day just a couple months ago. She walks in with her weekly delivery of 16 bears beaming and proud, chatting away. We're so pleased with this result, we can't even express it. We've made a difference for this one family.

To give to this fundraiser, please use this link: https://goto.gg/f/74542

Thank you.

headed to a new home in America

toddler's new best friend, Mom says it's OK!

these two went to Australia

this one's for Trails for Change

a Battered Bear under construction, by hand

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Jun 5, 2025
Elevating Our Producer Partners And Their Skills

By Tim Straight | Founder and Executive Director

Armen from Vardenis with the Canadian Ambassador

In HDIF, we don't call the people that make our finely crafted products 'workers' or even 'artisans'. We call the Producer Partners. This is because they ARE partners. We are nothing without the skill sets and dedication they have, and they would not be able to development a great product and market it without HDIF.

HDIF recently moved into new offices in Yerevan. We wanted to use that occasion to put our producer partners, diplomatic missions, international organizations, local businesses and our board and staff into one room. We wanted them to meet each other, so that the producer partner knows who buys their product and the buyer can know who made the products they buy. Great conversations happened. On the spot, the Dutch embassy launched the concept of a product for use in a campaign against gender based abortion, and the Finnish ambassador ordered tote bags with Finnish flag on them. A fantastic outcome, and only the beginning.

We are so proud of our producer partners, their skills and their dedication. And we are thankful to our corporate and institutional clients. What HDIF does is so vital to making this happen. What we do makes a difference every day. As we write this, our producer partners in Talin, Gyumri, Koghb and Berd and the Syrian Armenian refugee group in Yerevan are packed with orders. It's our job to keep up this so very impactful work.

We so appreciate the support you are giving us every month. It makes a real difference. We're on the ground, slogging away. Your donation can help us move mountains, Armenian mountains.

Thank you!

Margarita from Vayk with the Finnish Ambassador

Maral from Aleppo with the Swedish Ambassador

Maral from Aleppo with the Norwegian Ambassador

Lena and Armen from Vardenis with the FI/NO honcon

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