Historical overview

As a result of these developments, the public kitchens are being opened to feed tens of thousands of displaced persons and refugees. At the end of the 1990s, the City of Zagreb, through the Office for Health and Social Welfare, took over public kitchens, thereby providing lunch for the socially endangered citizens of Zagreb. Until 2002, the food was prepared at the Dubrava Public Kitchen, which was located at the Zagreb Bus Factory (Gornja Dubrava City District), and then moves to the former Kosnica – Mičevac Exile Settlement, where the meal is being prepared to this day.

Lunchroom in Branimirova 35 (Medvešćak City District) - Branch Office's "Public Dining Room" was renovated in 1999, and since 2002, lunch is also shared in Cerska 3 (Donja Dubrava City District) - "Cerska Public Dining Room".

The City of Zagreb, through the then City Office for Health, Labour and Social Welfare, and now the City Office for Social Welfare and Persons with Disabilities, established the City of Zagreb's "Good Home" Institution by a decision of the Zagreb City Assembly on February 26, 2004.

The newly established Social Welfare Institution for the provision of social services and other services to users in the social welfare system takes over all the current forms of nutrition assistance from the Social Welfare Department: nutrition in the public kitchen, entitlement to daily meals and delivery, assistance with family packages and assistance to children in dairy food.

Since September 2004, through the Institution, the City of Zagreb has been renovating and equipping the dining room at Heinzelova 78, where lunch is prepared daily for 90 occupants of the accommodation.

Recognizing the needs of citizens, the Institution, in cooperation with the City of Zagreb and the City Office for Social Welfare and Persons with Disabilities, finds a location in the area of Pešćenica City District (Alfirevićeva 6) and in May 2009 opens a new Business Unit "Alfirevićeva Public Dining Room".

At the same location in November 2009, the premises for the Business Unit "Vozni park", which has been operating at the same location, are being renovated. During the month of August 2010, a new dining room became operational as part of the "Thermal Block - Dining Room Kosnica" business unit available to users of accommodation at the City Red Cross City Hall of the City of Zagreb in the former exile settlement Kosnica.

Beneficiaries of the Institution are entitled to these types of social welfare assistance at the City Office for Social Welfare and Persons with Disabilities through a referral / certificate from the competent Social Welfare Centre Zagreb as a person with social protection need and on the basis of an insight into their social status. The list of beneficiaries of individual rights is determined by the City Office for Social Welfare and Persons with Disabilities, and it issues a SOCIAL CARD with which the beneficiary exercises an individual right. The rights to the same are audited twice a year by the professional services of the City Office for Social Welfare and Persons with Disabilities.

In the last 15 years, 26.9 million meals have been distributed from the Institution to fellow citizens in social need, more than 2.2 million meals have been delivered to the homes of the elderly and infirm, more than 67 thousand children from 0-12 months have been distributed is 775 thousand units of replacement milk, almost 200 thousand families have taken over their food and hygiene packages. The traditional commemoration of the May Day celebration in Maksimir Park, where almost 600,000 servings of bean stew were distributed in the organization of the City of Zagreb and the Institution over the past 10 years, and the tradition of dividing cod on Ban Josip Jelačić Square - 25,000 servings over the past three years. Daily compliance with the principles of Food Quality and Safety Management HACCP system, implemented ISO 9001 quality management system, ISO 14001 waste management system and ISO 45000 health and safety management system, guarantees our citizens in social protection need a quality, healthy, safe and tasty meal.

The Institution, with its 89 employees, operates in 5 locations, through two Departments, 5 branches, 8 Business Units, and since December 2004 the Director’s office has been located at Kruge 44 within the Health Centre.