A Hub of Support: How COAF’s Newest Child Family Center Is Equipping a Village of Caregivers

Located on the grounds of COAF’s second SMART Campus, the Youredjian Child and Family Center is serving 15 surrounding communities — reaching over 500 individuals per year with holistic services spanning psychological support, speech therapy, early childhood development, and now, professional capacity building.

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Its new Resource Hub component, unique to Myasnikyan, offers year-round trainings and workshops that support the professional growth of those working directly with children— educators, speech therapists, psychologists, social workers, and local administrators. Its goal? To foster a collaborative, child-centered culture where specialists across sectors are empowered with the latest tools, research, and methodologies to serve the best interests of children.

Resource Hubs: Strengthening the Network Around the Child

The Resource Hub’s approach is built on five principles: inclusion, collaboration, dignity, rights-based practices, and continuous learning. Through a flexible, community-responsive model, the program equips participants not only with theoretical knowledge but also with practical skills, discussions around real cases, peer learning, and in the future, opportunities to design and implement small-scale projects in their own communities.

Participants — including public school teachers from villages in the vicinity, preschool staff, psychologists, and social workers — benefit from expert-led sessions that prioritize:

• Interdisciplinary teamwork
• Parent engagement strategies
• Behavioral and emotional development
• Conflict resolution and resilience
• Professional self-reflection and well-being

20 Trainings in 6 Months Up-Skill and Empower Over 300 CFC Professionals

In just the first half of this year, COAF’s Resource Hub has already delivered twenty transformational trainings, reaching hundreds of educators, caregivers, and mental health professionals. Here are some highlights:

Building Resilience from Within

Over 20 teenagers participated in “Resilience Begins with Me,” a 6-session course using art therapy and interactive exercises to help teens manage stress, build emotional strength, and learn how to face life’s challenges with confidence.

In “My Heart and Mind Are Friends,” eight and nine-year-olds explored emotional self-awareness, empathy, and conflict resolution — helping lay the foundation for lifelong social skills.

Equipping Parents and Preschool Teachers

Parents and early childhood educators attended multiple practical trainings, including:

• “The Age Three Crisis”, helping adults better understand this tricky developmental stage
• “Hello, School”, offering tools for a smoother transition to school 
• “Parenting Styles: Strict, Soft, or Balanced?”, encouraging reflection and mindful discipline

Scaling Impact: Empowering Psychologists

Capacity building helps resource hubs scale COAF’s impact by equipping local professionals on the ground with best practices. Since opening, the Resource Hub has held intensive sessions for school psychologists, covering topics such as:

• Teen-parent relationships
• Art therapy in adolescent counseling
• Emotional regulation in children
• Stress management and self-care for professionals

One notable training, “Raising Resilience: For School Psychologists,” equipped 11 specialists with practical methods to support children and families coping with trauma and hardship, giving them tools that are now being applied across Armavir’s rural schools.

Advancing Social Work Practice in Armavir

At the resource hub, social workers (and future social work students) gained new techniques for:

• Structural analysis in family dynamics
• Assessment in social work — including ethics, tools, and case-based peer learning

These sessions helped deepen professionals' capacity to work with families holistically, respectfully, and in the best interest of every child.

Lifting Voices: Supporting Speech Therapists and Families

In addition to trainings in psychology and social work, the Resource Hub also offered sessions focused on early speech and language development. These were designed not only for practicing speech therapists, but also for parents and early educators, equipping them with the knowledge to better understand and support children’s communication needs. Topics covered included:

• Age-specific developmental milestones
• Strategies to encourage expressive and receptive language in young children
• Early signs of speech or language delay and when to seek professional help
• Practical exercises for parents to use at home

These trainings are building a more informed community—one where both specialists and families are empowered to recognize and respond to children's developmental needs with care, confidence, and collaboration.

A Model for Armenia’s Future

What makes the Myasnikyan Resource Hub truly impactful is its vision of local empowerment. Each training is designed not just to teach, but to build lasting networks, encourage cross-sector collaboration, and foster homegrown solutions.

Trainers use a 4-step method called “Think–Participate–Develop–Act”, guiding participants from theory to community action. Every participant is encouraged to bring their learning back to their schools, clinics, or communities, and even design local mini-projects that address specific needs.

Looking Ahead

The work is just beginning. Upcoming trainings will continue to address speech development, special education needs, and inclusive classroom strategies. Each session builds toward a shared goal: a resilient, informed, and united community where every child is seen, heard, and supported.

This vision lives at the heart of Armavir’s SMART Campus thanks to the generosity of longtime COAF benefactor Jack Youredjian, whose support made the construction of the Youredjian Child and Family Center possible. If you believe in the power of the Resource Hub — in strengthening the teachers, caregivers, and professionals who shape young lives — we welcome your support to help this work continue and expand.

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