HDIF's 10th Anniversary 2013-2023
HDIF Founder Tim Straight has lived and breathed global social enterprise for more than 10 years. What's more, while hailing from Ohio, he has made Armenia his home for more than 20 years.
Tim arrived in Armenia in September 2000 as the Country Director of the Norwegian Refugee Council. He organized the construction of homes for Armenian refugees who had fled the pogroms in Azerbaijan. Two months later, he was named the Honorary Consul for Norway. In 2005, he was named the Honorary Consul for Finland. He holds both positions today.
In the course of his work, Tim encountered high emigration rates, poverty, stunted growth among children, and domestic violence. He grew tired of reporting these cases to the Norwegian and Finnish governments. He decided to tackle these issues head-on by helping women and persons with disabilities engage their talents to produce handicrafts, learn new business skills, and ultimately earn some money that would supplement their household income. In 2010, the predecessor to Homeland Development Initiative Foundation, Homeland Handicrafts, was born.
2010-2013
The first producer group was established in Goris with the assistance of Peace Corps volunteer Zoe Armstrong (from Maine), who was working with the Goris Women's Resource Center. Zoe and Tim met over lunch and soon hatched the idea to start a crocheting group. The very first products were sets of Armenian fruits and vegetables. Soon came ideas to produce mini animals.
The second producer group was established in Berd with the assistance of Peace Corps volunteer John Hart (from Arkansas). John was working with a small IT company, and Anahit Badalian was a volunteer there. 27-year-old Anahit wanted to support the women of her community and, with John's help, she founded the Berd Women's Resource Center. Tim was asked to visit this new group, and a knitted teddy bear caught his eye. After lots of back and forth, the Berd Bear was born.
In Talin, Peace Corps volunteer Brian Bokhart (from Minnesota) introduced Tim to Gayane Khachatryan, who established the Talin Women's Resource Center, and a third producer group was born. Talin Dolls, crocheted in the traditional "taraz" costumes of Greater Armenia, was the first series of items produced.
In March 2013, Homeland Development Initiative Foundation's registration with the Armenian government was formalized and HDIF became a legal entity in Armenia!
From 2014-2017, HDIF was headquartered at Impact Hub in the AGBU building on Melik Adamyan Street near Republic Square. Tim started expanding his staff to include marketing, logistics, and finance personnel. The colorful skeins of yarn hanging from the ceiling soon became HDIF’s signature office decor!
In 2017, HDIF became the first World Fair Trade (WFTO) Guaranteed Organization in the entire former Soviet region. Also in 2017, HDIF-USA was founded by Beth Rustigian Broussalian as an incorporated nonprofit organization in California.
In 2018, HDIF LLC was formed to separate retail and trading operations from the Foundation's development activities. HDIF's first storefront opened on Parpetsi Street in April, two days before the start of the revolution.
In 2019, HDIF LLC closed down the shop due to lack of sales to support escalating operating expenses. HDIF LLC and Foundation moved to a new location on Isahakyan Street. This space was a combination of office and showroom. In order to cut costs, HDIF LLC’s staff was reduced to two people, Lucy Vartevanian and Lilit Darbinyan, with volunteer interns from Birthright Armenia and Armenian Volunteer Corps.
By early 2020, HDIF was in good financial shape and anticipated its most lucrative year ever. Then in March, COVID-19 closed down Armenia and the rest of the world. HDIF quickly pivoted and started producing personal use masks. Skirmishes in Berd in July forced HDIF to pivot again, and soon it began selling locally-produced food items for local and international distribution. In September, the 44-day war between Armenia and Azerbaijan started. HDIF pivoted again, and added health, wellness, clothing and household essentials to its inventory.
In 2021, the initiative, called "Sari Janabarh" (Mountain Road), was created with generous funding from the Whitt Family Foundation. A key component of Sari Janabarh is to "connect" the Shamshadin region (Tavush) with the Getik Valley (Gegharkunik) via a mountain road (H38). It focuses on developing places to camp as well as outdoor activities, including hiking, horseback riding, and mountain and road biking.
At the LLC, the product line was expanded to include, not only crocheted handicrafts, but also a host of Easter and Christmas decorations as well as knitted, felt, printed, embroidered, wooden, and hand-painted items.
At the end of 2021, HDIF made a move to the new Impact Hub Yerevan, adjacent to the Sasuntsi Davit train station. This move afforded HDIF greater foot traffic and a higher volume of engaged shoppers. The shop features HDIF's beautiful products as well as items produced by other Impact Hub members.
In 2022, HDIF welcomed new diasporan distributors into its fold. They include Gayane Petrosyan of Les Cadeaux Marash in Canada, Carineh Grigorian of Artful Giving in Australia, and Sonya Varoujian of Noor and Katu in the United Kingdom.
In December 2022, Jean-Pierre Djabrayan became executive director of HDIF LLC. He was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon and has work experience in financial and account management for the banking, trading, and non-profit sectors. He moved to Armenia in December of 2021 through the iGorts program.
Through the years, HDIF has engaged with dozens of different partner organizations, received a number of essential grants, and participated in global movements like International Women’s Day, Fair Trade Day, and World Refugee Day.
HDIF’s reach in underserved and border communities of Armenia now includes Berd, Koghb, Dilijan, Goghovit, Goris, Gyumri, Kapan, Spitak, Vardenis, Martuni, Talin and Yerevan. Today, HDIF employs 235 artisans and ships its fair trade handicrafts to eight international exporters.
Tim is still going strong, wearing many hats while relentlessly working to cultivate Armenia’s great potential and maintaining eternal belief in Armenia’s future.
