My name is Alexandra Vinczi, and I have been working at Egyesek for five years, but my own story with youth work began much earlier.
When I was 14, a good friend invited me to a new place in Debrecen—the local youth center. Until then, I didn't even know that such a thing existed in the city, or what a community space could be. As the years passed, I used to go there after school hours, we painted the walls, I wrote my first grant application, led a group, facilitated, organized soccer cups, concerts, but also city-level youth municipal elections and a national meeting of children's and youth municipalities with 150 participants. It is difficult to describe in words how much these years gave me, how it contributed to my growth, how much joy, laughter, and tears it brought.
I honestly did not think that 16 years later, this would be my career, my purpose, and my passion project, that I would be working as a youth worker in an NGO. I certainly didn't know that after a few years we would begin to realize one of Egyesek's oldest dreams—to open our own youth center, our own space in Szécsény. But here we are, the building is already ours, but in order to open its doors to young people, a lot of renovation work is still needed. And of course, renovations come with costs that we, as Egyesek, cannot cover entirely on our own.
If you also believe it is important for young people to spend their time in a community, within the safe walls of a youth center, and you would like to contribute to giving them the opportunity to grow up while discovering what they love to do, trying new things, and connecting with each other in a peaceful environment, then please support my fundraiser! Each and every donation, no matter it's amount, counts!
