Honoring Sosé and Allen's Legacy Build by Helping Build a Home for a Family in Need

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“Every time you do a good deed you shine the light a little farther into the dark. And the thing is, when you're gone that light is going to keep shining on, pushing the shadows back.” ~ Charles de Lint

It is already the second year that the light is going to keep shining on by building a home for a family in need to honor Sose and Allen’s memory, a young couple that lost their lives in the spring of 2013. The couple, who were born and raised in the United States, married in August 2012 and moved to Armenia from Los Angeles. Sose and Allen were involved in a variety of projects and returned to their homeland with the hope to have their contribution in its development. Unfortunately those dreams were cut short in a fatal car accident en route to Tbilisi for a weekend trip.

In 2013 Sose’s brother, Vache Thomassian established “Sosé & Allen’s Legacy” foundation to keep their memory alive by working to bridging the gap between Armenia and its Diaspora, through an emphasis on education, repatriation, and volunteerism within the homeland. “We are proud to partner with Fuller Center to support the incredible work they do. It’s a beautiful and meaningful thing to help family’s build their homes in Armenia, just like Sosé & Allen only began to do,” said Thomassian.

This year 25 volunteers from the USA together with the Fuller Center for Housing Armenia team joined to help the Gdoyan family build their home in the Silikyan district on the outskirts of Yerevan.

The Gdoyan family is also no stranger to tragedy. Arpine and Sarkis Gdoyan were married in 2003 and began constructing their home in 2004.  They laid the foundation, built the walls and finished the roof. Sadly, Sarkis was killed in a car accident in 2009 and the dream of having their own home remained unfulfilled.

The 2nd annual build honoring ‘’Sose and Allen’s Legacy’’ worked to make the Gdoyan’s dream a reality. The volunteer team made tremendous progress in constructing the home and also created a special bond between the diasporan youth and the local family including Arpine’s two young daughters Marine and Mariam.

‘’I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all these people for the hard and praiseworthy work they do. They helped us not only physically by doing the whole concreting of the floors but also psychologically - they once more proved that people are alive as long as their memory is kept alive,’’ said Arpine.