On Monday, 14 January, the official opening was held at the Children’s Home in Bolesławiec of a family-type care and education facility that can accommodate up to 8 children. Among those attending the ceremony were Bolesławiec County Starost Tomasz Gabrysiak, Bolesławiec Deputy Mayor Kornel Filipowicz, and Rev. Dr Stanisław Kusik, parish priest of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, who blessed the premises of the new facility.
Sister Agnieszka Wieczorek, director of the Bolesławiec Children’s Home, addressed those gathered:
I wholeheartedly welcome everyone on this special day—special for our Home, for Bolesławiec County, for our city, and also for our Wrocław province.
Sister Agnieszka thanked, among others, the starost (“for his generous heart and very human kindness”), the women from the District Family Support Centre (“they wore out and ruined their shoes to ensure that the agreement reached us before the facility opened”), as well as anonymous donors, thanks to whom the newly opened facility was renovated and equipped in a very short time.
“Sister Agnieszka has returned to Bolesławiec and, in about a month, has done something that is theoretically impossible. She is our sister for impossible things,” says Starost Tomasz Gabrysiak. “She carried out a complete renovation of this part of the building and adapted it to the needs of the youngest children. She convinced all the officials to prepare the agreement in a very short time, and many good people to support the operation with their help and money.”
The starost adds: “I think the children will find peace and quiet here, and above all, love and good care from the entire staff.”
Justyna Ziółkowska, director of the District Family Support Centre:
The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Elizabeth—Wrocław Province in Wrocław—has run the Children’s Home as a care and education facility since 1991. Since 2017, following a transformation related to changes in regulations, the socialization facility has served 14 children over the age of 10. Because there was a need to provide care for children from birth to 18 years of age, the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Elizabeth, the District Family Support Centre and Bolesławiec County took steps to establish a family-type care and education facility. The facility can accommodate up to 8 children, including siblings. With the voivode’s approval, it can accommodate up to 10 children.
Why is this so important? “The operation of a family-type Children’s Home in our area as another facility will allow children under the age of 10 to be placed here. At present, 21 children are in foster care outside Bolesławiec County. As early as Tuesday, 15 January, six siblings, including the youngest, a 9-month-old child, will be brought to the new facility,” emphasizes the head of the District Family Support Centre.
She adds: “Thanks to this facility, biological parents will have easier contact with their children. As a result, emotional bonds with the natural family will not be weakened. It should be remembered that foster care is not adoption. Parents have the right to contact their children. This is only a temporary stay, until the family situation is stabilized.”
Six siblings will live in the newly opened facility. The oldest, Anastazja, is 15, while the youngest—Julcia—is 9 months old.