By Natalie Bryant Rizzieri | Executive Director & Founder
Dear friends & family,
It has been too long since I last wrote. I know this mostly because I am back in Arizona and have yet to catch you up on the happenings at Warm Hearth. Bridget joined me for a whirlwind few days but we were able to get a lot accomplished and it was a gift to have her company. Our days were brimming with conversations with residents, staff, volunteers, supporters...
We did not bring Anna or Sassoon home from the clinic. This was a hard decision to make and given that the stakes are so high for these two, I cannot say it was a "good" decision, but it was the best one we could make. We did, however, spend some time trying to come up with a long-term solution for them which would entail opening a new home (or more than one new home) for residents with different needs. The model would distinguish between levels of functioning & behavior problems and place residents with these certain criteria in mind. This plan and model that our staff is interested in creating was born out of our experiences with Warm Hearth. And so it is particular to our resources and needs in Armenia. It belongs to Armenia. It belongs to our staff. That is a beautiful thing to me. So, we might be diving into new plans and homes over the next couple years....so that we can provide long-term care for our Anna & Sassoon & others like them....
We had rich time with the residents and staff. We heard about the residents' dreams & vocational goals & were even able to establish an individualized vocational plan for each of them. In conversing about this we learned that Alina, our artist, whom we expected to say that she wanted to paint or draw, said: "For work, I want to help people. If a person feels bad, this is who I will help." We learned that Davit wants to be the director of a kindergarten and that Roman wants to become a photographer. We are excited to work with each resident to create a more meaningful life for himself/herself...along the lines of the passions and skills they already have. Our staff and our residents have security and safety and they have their feet underneath them, pretty solidly now, so it is a time to walk (sometimes it feels like we are running) and grow and expand our home & the lives of our residents.
Gayane's 28th birthday coincided with our trip so we had a special celebration with her. All of the staff were there. We had cake and juice and candles and silly spray! We danced and toasted and laughed. Gayane opened gifts and received all the visitors with such gratitude. Near the end of the party, and near the end of the toasts, she became so overwhelmed with it all that she became tearful. Slightly embarrassed, I think I relieved her embarrassment a bit by saying, "O Gayane, you're just like me." Everyone chuckled and she smiled. Because it is known that tears pretty freely flow from my eyes. She was crying tears of joy and gratitude. Even in joy, there can be something bittersweet, and she probably felt that, too, as did I...and probably Bridget, and perhaps our staff. That we could all come together and give her this day, hold it out to her, and partake of it ourselves...was a beautiful thing. Shortly after, Roman turned on the music and we danced until we were tired. It doesn't get much better than that.
Thank you for all you do to make days like this one possible. I wish many of you could have been there to see this with your own eyes, to see this long-held dream in flesh & blood. I'll try to send photographs soon... And in the meantime, continue to keep us in your thoughts & prayers. Hold us all close. There is more to be done. And we don't want to go at it alone.
With love & gratitude, Natalie (for us all)
By Natalie Bryant Rizzieri | Executive Director & Founder
By Natalie Bryant Rizzieri | Executive Director & Founder
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