Tigranuhi Akopyan, director at the Caritas Aregak Foundation, believes that employing staff with disabilities helps with social inclusion.
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00:00We create a cafe where we would serve the best coffee, best European pastry, and the
00:06best smiling service.
00:09Our customers, they come, they order, and they encounter a server with Down syndrome.
00:15They see people who work here.
00:17That was the way that we were challenging society.
00:21I'm Tigran Oyakopyan, the director of Caritas Aregak Foundation.
00:35Caritas Aregak Foundation is a charitable organization and runs two big projects.
00:40One of them is the Emily Aregak Center and Aregak Bakery, where young people with disabilities
00:46and mothers of disabled children can work, create, and earn a salary.
00:52That's making a more inclusive environment in the cafe.
00:55They have the right to employment.
00:57Our staff haven't been employed before in their lifetime.
01:02They would first of all go through trainings, which would take them about six months until
01:06one year.
01:08That was our mission, to provide them safe environment and opportunity for creation.
01:30They are not here because they have a disability, special needs, or they come from a vulnerable
01:35background.
01:36They earned this job because they worked hard.
02:07We wanted to break the stereotypes, to challenge the society's attitude towards people with
02:17disabilities.
02:37All of our employees are warm-hearted.
02:42It's always a pleasure for us to come here, have a cup of coffee, sit at the table, talk
02:51with the employees.
02:54The main problem is socialization.
02:58This problem can be solved here, because we have active communication between the staff
03:06and the employees.
03:08It's great that there are organizations and companies that employ people with disabilities.
03:22It's not just a place that people would come out of pity and buy things.
03:28They come for quality and for the environment.
03:31That's the way we made this success, and now we are a profitable cafe.
03:36The profit generated here is sent to Emily Aragog Center, through which we are providing
03:42rehabilitation services to other children with special needs.
03:46I have been working at school for five years.
03:49I have been exposed to people with disabilities, especially kids with special needs.
03:54I've always wanted to make changes that could make their lives better.
04:00I joined the project in 2013 called Emily Aragog Center for Children and Youth with
04:05Disabilities.
04:07It's a social rehabilitation center where we provide rehabilitation services to children
04:11and youth with disabilities.
04:14They come to our center for daily activities.
04:17They come after school hours.
04:20Since 2015, we have been serving about 150 children and youth with disabilities who would
04:26attend our center on a yearly basis.
04:30Starting such a cafe was very challenging.
04:34We didn't have much knowledge about starting a cafe business, but we took this risk because
04:39we believed in that idea.
04:42We put all of our hearts into this initiative.
04:46Anyone who wants to start such an initiative, I would advise 100% be courageous and start
04:52Aragog Bakery has become a safe, welcoming environment for people with disabilities.
05:23It was a long journey with our young adults with disabilities, working with them at our
05:33rehabilitation center, providing them the necessary skills, and also motivating them
05:38for work and giving them the idea and making them feel excited about the job.
05:44Aragog means little sun, and we wanted to bring sun and sunshine in the city center
05:49of Kimri.