Oaza’s homeless shelter opened in Rijeka in April 2013. It is intended primarily for users from Rijeka and the Primorje-Gorski Kotar county. It has a capacity of 14 beds and provides our beneficiaries with temporary accommodation of 6 months to a year, during which period users can use our help to find permanent or other temporary accommodation. Beneficiaries have the possibility to stay in the premises of the Shelter 24 hours a day, one cooked meal a day on weekdays, and a dry meal from the Red Cross Rijeka’s folk kitchen on weekdays, the possibility of preparing small meals for breakfast and dinner, the possibility of maintaining personal hygiene, washing and drying laundry, participation in collecting food donations for breakfast and dinner and learning about living together. It is one form of reintegration of person into a particular society and the first step in the socialization of our beneficiaries.

During the stay with us, all beneficiaries will produce personal documents and receive all necessary information for achieving social rights in cooperation with the Center for Social Welfare Rijeka and the City of Rijeka from the City’s social program, as well as employment opportunities, retraining and additional education. Beneficiaries are provided with financial support in the preparation of documents but also in education and the recruitment process (for example transport to the place of work).

Beneficiaries are obliged to take care of the Shelter premises and to participate in cleaning and maintenance of the Shelter premises and inventory. They participate in creation of leisure time, make suggestions for and actively participate in occupational activities. The responsibility of the user IS ALSO adherence to the rules of the House Rules of the Shelter. They may also make suggestions for improving the work or living conditions at the Shelter.

According to the dynamics of changing the users of the Shelter so far, and considering the capacity of 14 beds, we take care for about 25 to 30 different users annually.

The aim of the Shelter is to offer adequate accommodation and security for people who at that moment are not able to accomplish it themselves and provide them with facilities that will help them to integrate more easily into society and become independent.

The Housing Community for Homeless Women (hereinafter: the Housing Community) was founded in Rijeka in 2015. It is intended primarily for beneficiaries from Rijeka and Primorje-Gorski Kotar county. It has a capacity of 6 beds and provides temporary accommodation for the beneficiaries, during which the beneficiaries should permanently resolve their housing problem.

In addition to housing, the beneficiaries have one warm meal a day, weekends and holidays, the possibility of preparing meals, the possibility of maintaining personal hygiene, washing and drying laundry, learning about coexistence and psychosocial support. The housing community is a form of reintegration of a person into a particular society and a first step in the socialization of beneficiaries.

Each beneficiary is provided with a personal document during her accommodation, if she does not have one and provides all the necessary information for achieving social rights in cooperation with the Center for Social Welfare Rijeka and the City of Rijeka regarding the rights from the City’s social program, as well as employment opportunities, retraining and additional education. Beneficiaries are provided with financial support in the preparation of documents but also in education and the recruitment process (for example transport to the place of work).

The beneficiaries are obliged to take care of the premises of the Housing Community and to participate in the cleaning and maintenance of the premises and inventory. It is the duty of the beneficiaries to adherence to the Residential Community House Rules.

According to the dynamics of changing the beneficiaries of the Housing Community so far, and considering the capacity of 6 beds, we provide housing for 8 to 10 different beneficiaries per year.

The goal of the Housing Community is to offer adequate housing and security for homeless women who are not able to achieve it at the moment and provide them with facilities that will help them to integrate more easily and gain independence.

The “Education and Integration” program is an additional, extracurricular, educational program intended for Roma (mostly Ashkali) and non-Roma children from the social housing program of the City of Rijeka, which has been implemented at the Škurinje elementary school since 2011. It started as a volunteer project, based on the initiative of the City of Rijeka, within the framework of an agreement and cooperation between the City of Rijeka Government, the Oaza Association and the Škurinje Elementary School. It started and remained motivated by the difficulties and problems faced by Roma children in school, primarily from the social housing program in the Skurinje city district.

The program includes children from 1st to 8th grade, about 25 of them, and their number varies with the number of children enrolled in the current school year. The program is implemented in the premises of the Škurinje elementary school every weekday in 2 groups, depending on the age of the children. Each child attends 6 hours of extra classes per week plus regular cultural events (at least once a month).

The goals of the program are to facilitate and improve the involvement of children in the educational process through helping them master the material and developing basic skills, cognitive abilities and social habits; to strengthen their confidence and awareness of their own worth; expand their cultural, artistic and social horizons (visits to cinema, theater, museums, creative workshops, etc.); prevent early school leaving and behavioral disorders; and, in so doing, strengthen the bases for realizing their personal potentials, better social integration and future social mobility.

Previous project experience shows results in better academic progress, raising children’s interest in education and quality extracurricular programs, and better socialization and integration into the wider community.

“Neighbors without address” – field work with homeless people and people living in poor conditions