Local services
The Reformed Church is building a 96-seat crèche in Józsa. Mayor of Debrecen László Papp, Bishop of the Reformed Church District of Tiszántúl Károly Fekete and Deputy Mayor of Debrecen Ákos Balázs held a press conference at the site of the future educational institution on the 10th of October, 2023.
“A very important development in the life of Józsa is the expansion of the institutional system here. The last nine years have been a renewal period in the town’s institutional system. In recent years, we have renovated a number of kindergartens, nurseries, and primary and secondary schools, partly thanks to the municipality and partly thanks to other maintenance activities. If there is one area where cooperation with churches is absolutely ideal, it is in the field of education”, László Papp said.
The mayor pointed out that the city’s history goes back half a millennium, and the Reformed Church’s role in building the city of Debrecen is indisputable.
In a few months, another municipal day nursery will open in Józsa, where the purchase of equipment is currently underway, the Mayor said.
The Reformed Church applied for the RRF fund and was successful. This will result in the construction of a 96-place nursery with eight classrooms, consisting of four care units,” the mayor said. He explained that the nursery would be built on more than half an acre of municipally owned land, which, if approved by the assembly, would be transferred to the Reformed Church.
“Józsa is a very dynamic and growing part of Debrecen, with excellent job opportunities, as the Northwestern Economic Belt is located on the other side of the motorway, where thousands of jobs will be created. Employment and commuting to work in the city is very closely linked to the quantity and quality of nursery care in the city,” he said, stressing the importance of nurseries.
László Papp said that Debrecen’s nursery capacity is growing in line with the city’s needs. Next year, two new crèches will be opened, one in Józsa, the other in Postakert, but with the help of the Greek Catholic Church, a crèche will also be built in Tócóvölgy, and the fourth will be in Józsa.
Károly Fekete, Bishop of the Reformed Church District of Tiszántúl, said that it was a great joy for them to be able to stand in an area where the Reformed Church had two congregations, as the parishes of Alsójózsa and Felsőózsa used to operate separately. In this district of 13-14 thousand inhabitants, a twin congregation that did not yet have an institution is able to take care of the crèche that the diocese has applied for. Pastoral care can also be provided by the local parish, the bishop stressed. He added that he hoped that the city council would be able to make the land available to them, so that they could continue to run the institution with the care of a good steward. He noted that, in addition to the city crèches, the congregations of Tégláskert, Nagysándortelep and Füredi Road are also participating in a Reformed crèche building programme.
The tower of the Reformed church in Alsójózsa is home to a bell on which is written “the power of unity”. This unity is what characterises us in Józsa. The good cooperation that exists between the town, the churches and the denominations. This future day nursery is also the result of the fact that we can think and act together to develop Józsa,” Deputy Mayor and municipal representative of the municipality, Ákos Balázs, said.
Speaking about the numbers, he said that the number of children between the ages of zero and six in Józsa is constantly above 1,000, so one of the important aspects of the district’s development is to create locally available educational facilities. The first one is ready and we will be able to start it at the beginning of the year. We want to make as many services as possible available here locally for future generations. The other important area is transport development, and we have made a lot of announcements recently that will improve this. The third important aspect is the environment.
As part of the Civaqua programme, water will flow into the Tócó stream here and a green corridor will be created here from city funds, which will contribute to improving the climate, he underlined.
Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu
