By Natalie Bryant-Rizzieri | Founder & Executive Director
Dear donors and friends,
Ah, love, let us be true to one another! (M. Arnold)
I just returned from Warm Hearth—from long dusty walks along alleyways with the residents as we traipsed to roadside restaurants. We were on a four-day trip to Syunik Marz, the southernmost region. There we conducted a belated celebration of Warm Hearth’s anniversary, remembering where and how the seeds of Warm Hearth were first planted. It was glorious to just be together — to travel, to rest, to eat, to wander. I think it served to remind all of us — staff and resident alike — that first and foremost we are people living life together, trying to love one another well. And in that, it was like a cold drink of water, nourishing and cooling the places inside of us that had grown parched.
On our journey, we also visited old haunts where memories surfaced, both painful and cleansing. We played and sang and laughed with a group of 19 individuals from one of the orphanages where some of our residents once lived, who like our residents have outgrown the orphanage and are waiting for a transfer to a psychiatric institutions or for a home like Warm Hearth. It is heartbreaking to stare into the face of such need and then turn and drive away. We are still trembling.
So we are looking for a way forward, for a way to open. After an unsuccessful year of trying and trying again to hire a new Development & Advocacy Officer, we need to recalibrate and determine how we will walk forward to respond to all that we witness. This is the work of the world—not just ours, not just yours. But let us do it together.
If you would like to read our full newsletter, please see the attachment.
Sincerely Yours,
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