FAR was founded in response to the 1988 Armenian earthquake by Dr. Edgar Housepian, Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, and Kevork Hovnanian. Headquartered in New York City, it also has offices in Armenia and in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic . It has more than 180 employees. Its diverse programs include a Homeless Children's Center, an Information Technology Center, educational scholarship programs, a Medical Education Program, soup kitchens, and senior centers.