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164 The Armenian Church

its service to those senior citizens who want
to live in this community. The Armenian
Church and the Armenian Evangelical Church
supervise the work of this center jointly.
The Institute for the Blind and Deaf,
founded by the American Near East Relief
Foundation in 1915 in Ghazir, Lebanon, and
taken over by the Swiss Friends of the
Armenians in 1928, has recently become an
organic part of the Home for the Elderly.
The Sanatorium of Azounieh, which was
founded in 1923 in Maameltein, Lebanon and
moved in 1936 to Azounieh, Lebanon, was
established through the donations of Ameri-
can Armenians to meet the medical needs of
the survivors of the genocide. Lung diseases
became the specialty of this medical center
and its service went even beyond the Ar-
menian confines. Today, the sanatorium also
includes a section for elderly people. It is
sponsored jointly by the Armenian Church
and the Armenian Evangelical Church.
The Home for the Elderly in Athens,
founded in 1956 by the Swiss Friends of the
Armenians, continues its humanitarian assis-
tance under the joint sponsorship of the Holy
See of Cilicia and the Federation of Swiss
Protestant Churches.
The Armenian Relief Society, founded
in 1929, the Armenian General Benevolent
Union, founded in 1906, the Armenian Edu-