The Armenian non-profit organization Hay Doun, which has been supporting the Armenian community in Montreal for more than 10 years, provides family and individual support services. Their services range from family and youth support to immigrant and refugee resettlement services to advocacy and mediation.
Hay Doun offers different types of programs that support the community such as the collective sponsorship program, habitations ararat, caregivers for elderly – PIF program and recently the scholarship program.
In 10 Years, for the first time, Hay Doun has started a new scholarship program which is the result of the cooperation with The Royal Bank of Canada who also funded it. This program consists of the Vocational Training Program (Diplôme D’études Professionnelles) by Hay Doun.
The Vocational Training Program (Diplôme D’études Professionnelles) helps new young comers to find the right track towards their professional career in Montreal. Hay Doun volunteers and professional workers support the participants by guiding them to find and choose the right program and providing them the financial support.
The purpose of this program is helping new comers to Quebec who left their jobs and studies in their countries to continue studying in Montreal, Quebec or to study a new technical program of their interest. This program was successful as it helped the new immigrants build their careers after being challenged by the language, the integration process, and not having any work experience in Canada.
Besides the Vocational Training Program, the Royal Bank of Canada also funded the Armenian Jewelers Foundation (AJF) to give an opportunity for the new Armenian comers by offering them gemology courses, as the first step toward building a career as professional jewelers. According to the AJF, this scholarship program promotes new capacity in the jewelry and diamond manufacturing sector, both in Armenia and the Diaspora.
The Royal Bank of Canada provided 30,000 dollars for this scholarship program, 20,000 of which was provided to Hay Doun, and the rest to the Armenian Jeweler’s Foundation.
This vocational training program started in September, 2016 and it hopes to continue providing the new comers with the necessary financial support to help them build their careers through participating in these programs. On June 20, 2018, Hay Doun commemorated the World Refugee Day, with the presence of RBC representatives, by celebrating the educational success of 18 young participants who received the scholarship and are studying in their academic fields.
Avo Kazanjian
