The Immanuel Home and School, an institution of the Great Church reformed congregation in Debrecen for children with multiple disabilities, received the Award founded by the Minister for Family Affairs.
Zsófia Győri, director of the Immanuel Home and School and Katalin Novák, Minister for Family Affairs
On 13 December Zsófia Győri, director of the Immanuel Home and School received the Chance for Life Award on behalf of the institution from Katalin Novák, Minister without portfolio for Family Affairs, who founded the award earlier this year. The award was given to the institution maintained by the Great Church reformed congregation in Debrecen for day care and education of handicapped children. They received it in recognition of the institution's outstanding achievements in the field of creating opportunities and outstanding professional activity in the field of defending human dignity.
The “Chance for Life” award has been founded by the Minister without Portfolio for Family Affairs- It is granted to 8 individuals each year in recognition of their outstanding work in the field of protection of human dignity, the fight against domestic violence and trafficking in human beings. The recipients are awarded a medal and a one-time cash prize.
At the inauguration of the new building of the institution, Minister Katalin Novák visited the school and personally witnessed the dedication of the staff to the work of students and young people with multiple disabilities.
This award is a great recognition for the Immanuel Home’s community of around 65 colleagues and staff members, and it also honours the professional quality of the work that they carry out on a daily basis.
Immanuel Home is a multifunctional educational institution created by the congregation of the Reformed Great Church of Debrecen. Immanuel Home provides education, day care, and Christian love to children and young adults with multiple disabilities.
Immanuel Home: Learning Through Communication
Immanuel Home is a daycare center with a focus on each individual child. There is no one service or program provided meant to apply to every case. Instead through communication, staff members strive to see each child's specific need and create a suitable plan to move forward from there.
The institution considers the protection of the dignity and rights of children and persons with disabilities to be of the utmost importance, in addition to the full development of their potential and abilities. It does not only implement these principles in its professional work, but also takes great care to sensitise its wider and closer social environment.
The assembly of the Transcibiscan Reformed Church District submitted a statement "on the welcoming of people with disabilities into our church communities" to the Synod of RCH which adopted it in 2016, in order to witness to the integration of people with disabilities and its theological importance for the church. The text was commissioned by the RCH Diaconal Office. It was based on the experiences gained from the 20 years of dedicated service and work of the Immanuel Home for Children in Debrecen. The sub-heading of the document refers to the motto of the 2009 constituting Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Church: "Christ is our future, together with our brothers and sisters with disabilities we follow Him!"
„We have recognized that everyone – whether they are healthy, currently not disabled, or living with some sort of disability or impairment – is need of God’s grace. It is only through Jesus Christ that we become real human beings. This is our common denominator, and God continues to approach us, humans, with His redeeming love and gospel, because He loves each and every one of us – whether we live with a disability or not – and has a plan with our lives in order to make us live for the glory of His holy name, in a way that His only begotten Son is reflected in our lives,” includes the Synod"s guideline for an accessible and welcoming church.