It all started with a dream

The Source Foundation was founded by two mothers of children with disabilities, Marina Parazyan and Lilia Karapetyan, in Yerevan in 2013. In a short while, it became a community of parents of children with disabilities, where parents join efforts to meet the children’s health and rehabilitation needs. The foundation is a daycare center in Yerevan for children with disabilities, which also carries out projects aimed at promoting the children's health, physical and mental development and improving the quality of life for their families. The Izmirlian Foundation supports and contributes to the implementation of the foundation’s projects. Mediamax spoke with the director of the Source Foundation, Marina Parazyan.It all started with a dreamEverything changed in Marina Parazyan's life 11 years ago, when she unexpectedly discovered that her child had a severe disability. The life of a child that was absolutely health until the age of two turned into an endless chain of medical examinations, treatment, and rehabilitation."When I first traveled to Europe to find out more about the syndrome my child had been diagnosed with, I went to visit rehabilitation centers. The rooms were colorful, with various amenities and equipment of all kinds and shapes. I kept looking around longing for the day when we would have similar centers in Armenia. That dream seemed so far-fetched and unattainable. These centers had the most essential things for rehabilitation therapy and care, which were provided by the government. They were simple and colorful, but also expensive. For instance, the price of a cushion started at 200 Euros.