"World Vision Armenia has been using the "Graduation Approach" for more than two years in working with families living in poverty. It is noteworthy that in this approach, the specialists do not solve the problems of the families, but teach the families to solve their own problems and plan their future. We hope that after summarizing the results of the trial phase, we will be able to demonstrate to government agencies the effectiveness of the approach and propose to use it in state social security policy, ”says World Vision Armenia Director Jirayr Edilyan.

World Vision Armenia and My Step Foundation will combine professional and financial resources. If successful, the program will expand to include more needy families. The team of specialists visited all beneficiary families in December 2018, conducting a needs assessment. 5 out of 15 families will be provided with social work, and organizations with 10 families will work on a "Graduation Approach" (Graduation Approach) methodology. This is an internationally accepted model of working with the most vulnerable families, which includes family needs assessment and an individual family development plan. The plan includes a number of interventions: specialist support, life skills training, vocational training, and more. Through these interventions, the two organizations will work with the 15 most vulnerable families as part of a joint pilot project to improve the quality of life of these families and build capacity for self-sufficiency.

“Since the foundation of My Step Foundation, numerous applications have been received from families in extreme distress. Some of them were housed in apartments provided by citizens on behalf of the foundation's board of trustees, Ms. Anna Hakobyan. However, it was a matter of principle for us, besides solving the immediate problems of these families, to provide long-term solutions, that is, to equip them with the abilities that at some point they would be able to move on their own, overcoming poverty. And that's where the idea of working with World Vision Armenia came from, " said Hovhannes Ghazaryan, Executive Director of My Step Foundation.