With the People. For the People

The Howard Karagheusian Commemorative Corporation (HKCC) aka Karagheusian Foundation is a private charity/organization supporting local NGOs that primarily serve needy Armenian children and their families.
The Foundation was established by Miran and Zabel Karagheusian of New York in memory of their son Howard, who succumbed to the 1918 influenza pandemic at the age of 14.

The family’s vision was broader than for simple projects, they set up programs that are still live and operating today. 

 

Our Mission

The Karagheusian Foundation seeks to ease suffering among children from socially and economically vulnerable Armenian communities in Lebanon and Armenia.

 

Our Vision

To empower children and their families to lead healthy and productive lives, achieve economic self-sufficiency and thrive in their communities.

History
“In the Name of a Son”

The Founding of the Karagheusian Foundation

In 1918, Mihran and Zabel Karagheusian of New York lost their 14-year old son Howard to the Spanish Flu pandemic. Devastated by his passing, they resolved to establish a humanitarian mission in his memory that would support children. In 1921, the Howard Karagheusian Commemorative Corporation was founded to help provide food, shelter, and education to hundreds of orphaned children who survived the Armenian Genocide which lasted from 1915-1923. 

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During World War I, Armenians living under Ottoman Turkish rule were the targets of the first genocide of the 20th century. Over 1.5 million perished, either through slaughter, deprivation, or disease. Several hundred thousand orphans survived but were left stranded in dangerous and dire conditions.

As news of this human catastrophe spread across continents, Armenian and non-Armenians—including many U.S.-based philanthropies and missionary organizations—hastened to rescue these uprooted children and ensure their physical, mental, and moral development and well-being.

Thousands of miles away from the ravages of death and despair, a 14-year-old boy, born into a wealthy family in New York, succumbed to pneumonia, surrounded by his father, Mihran, a manufacturer of fine rugs and carpets, and his mother Zabel. Vowing that their beloved Howard would not have died in vain, they made good on their promise with a foundation in his memory. The Howard Karagheusian Commemorative Corporation would be dedicated to saving less fortunate children from homelessness, disease, and other deprivations.

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The Early Years in Turkey and France 

In 1921, the Karagheusian Foundation’s first overseas venture was the Howard Karagheusian Home for Children, located in Istanbul, Turkey. However, two years later, the Turkish government forced it to shut down.

In 1924, the Foundation’s operations moved to La Gaudiniere, an estate in France’s Loire Valley. For the next 12 years, the Home pioneered a model program that provided vulnerable Armenian children with safe shelter and healthcare, education, vocational training, and a sense of Armenian identity through culture and the arts.

Despite these important strides forward, two setbacks—the Wall Street crash of 1929 and a disastrous fire in 1934—compelled the Foundation to end its operations in France in 1936.

Efforts in Greece

In 1937, when Armenian refugees struggled to rebuild their lives throughout the Levant, the Karagheusian Foundation launched operations in Greece to include daily sustenance, immunizations, and a myriad of social and health services.

When World War II broke out, the Foundation once again supplied emergency humanitarian aid as well as resources to help control epidemics. The post-war relief for the Greek-Armenian community continued with a housing program and a children’s summer camp. These services continued well into the 1990s. 

A New Generation of Leadership

In the 1930s, the Karagheusian torch was passed to Howard’s older sister Leila Karagheusian. Ready to take on the chief responsibilities of the Foundation, she embodied modesty and hard work, always putting the needs of her people first. Her high professional standards became her hallmark, elevating the reputation of the Foundation’s centers supported organization on an international scale. She was one of the firsts to recognize the need for preventive care and swiftly launched the project.  These progressive inroads made under her leadership served as a model for the training of social workers by various governments. 

Presence in the Middle East 

By the 1940s, hundreds of thousands of Armenian refugees in the Middle East faced poverty, disease, inadequate educational facilities, and a dearth of social assistance programs. The Karagheusian Foundation responded, supplying hot breakfasts and lunches to schoolchildren and initiating a string of social assistance projects. The Anonymous Donor Program was launched with the support of Vartan Jinishian in 1947 and, two years later, the Foundation established the multi-specialty Karagheusian Pediatric Center. These efforts helped lead the fight against the spread of epidemics in schools. 

In the 1980s, the Karagheusian Social Services Center opened in the Middle East, which resulted in providing 85 apartments to low-income families.

The Foundation’s first project in Lebanon was a children’s clinic, established in 1940 in the town of Anjar. In the ensuing decades, the Foundation helped raise living standards through food and social assistance programs and opened a children’s clinic in nearby Mejdel al Anjar.

The Foundation’s flagship clinic in Lebanon was established in 1941, in Beirut’s Bourj Hammoud district. Assistance programs proliferated in the following decades. The Foundation instituted immunization, milk distribution, school sanitation, social work, and diverse healthcare projects. In addition, it built a school playground and its ever-popular Social Center—a hub for vocational training, cultural activities, and sports.

In the late 1960s, the Foundation began a massive rehousing project, providing low-cost housing to some 500 families. In addition, it built the Mihran Karagheusian School.

The Lebanese Civil War severely affected the people of Lebanon. The Foundation stood by the Armenian community throughout the years of conflict, delivering emergency assistance services and expanding programs.

Initiatives in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh

The 1988 Spitak earthquake marked the beginning of the Foundation’s work in Armenia, and, eventually, Nagorno Karabakh (NKR). In 1991, the Foundation donated $1 million USD towards a reconstructive surgery center in Yerevan. Since then, it has launched an array of assistance initiatives, including far-reaching programs in children’s healthcare; distribution of medical equipment and medications; support for orphanages, schools, clinics, and hospitals; and housing assistance.

Timeline

[icon_timeline time_sep_bg_color=”#245693″ el_class=”timeline-section”][icon_timeline_item time_title=”1921: New York, USA”]Founding the Howard Karagheusian Commemorative Corporation.[/icon_timeline_item][icon_timeline_item time_title=”1921-1923: Constantinople, Turkey”]Establishing the Karagheusian House Foundation. Providing care for orphans.[/icon_timeline_item][icon_timeline_item time_title=”1924-1936: La Gaudinière, France”]Administering shelter for orphans, care, education, and craft training.[/icon_timeline_item][icon_timeline_item time_title=”1937-1990: Greece”]Administering vaccines, medical care, daily food, vacancies, apartments. Overcoming epidemics (trachoma, malaria, and beri-beri). [/icon_timeline_item][icon_timeline_item time_title=”1940: Ainjar, Lebanon”]Establishing the First Children’s Clinic Foundation and Cooperation with the Middle East Foundation.[/icon_timeline_item][icon_timeline_item time_title=”1941: Bourj Hammoud district of Beirut, Lebanon”]Establishing the Leading Clinic Foundation in Lebanon, and the center for social, cultural, and sports events. [/icon_timeline_item][icon_timeline_item time_title=”1947: Lebanon”]Collaboration with Vartan Jinishian Donor Program. Assisting orphaned children, women, and helping poor families.[/icon_timeline_item][icon_timeline_item time_title=”1960: Beirut, Lebanon”]Establishing the large-scale housing project in Beirut’s Fanar and Rawda Districts[/icon_timeline_item][icon_timeline_item time_title=”1980-1995: Belgium, Holland and Germany”]Assisting Turkish-Armenians who moved to Europe, providing Immigration translation services, health and civic education, teaching Armenian, organizing folk-dance groups. [/icon_timeline_item][icon_timeline_item time_title=”1988: Gyumri, Armenia”]Providing emergency relief for the earthquake victims. [/icon_timeline_item][icon_timeline_item time_title=”1992: Yerevan, Armenia”]Establishing the Howard Karagheusian Medical Benevolent Public Organization (HKMBPO)

[/icon_timeline_item][icon_timeline_item time_title=”2018: New York, NY”]To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Howard Karagheusian’s death, the Karagheusian Foundation provided a memorial gift to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to support the exhibition Armenia! that showcased the cultural heritage of Armenians. [/icon_timeline_item][/icon_timeline]

Board Members

Harry S. Cherken, Jr.

President

Dennis Tarzian

Vice-President

Richard J. Varadian

Secretary, Treasurer

Suzanne Akian

Ann Giragosian Daw

Haig Najarian

Raffi Tokatlian

Managing Director

Irina Lazarian