Příběh
How it all started
Four years ago, we opened the first cooperative social enterprise in Prague which employs homeless people or people who have served a sentence. But it was not as simple as that, as we soon realized. If you want to work in restaurant industry, you really need to put your heart in it. The harsh reality did not discourage us, though, and we dived into work head-first. Somehow, we even managed the whole Covid situation – we jumped behind the wheel and started to deliver our delicacies around the whole city. And it was worth it.
Our goal
We decided to give it our all. We want to open a new – bigger and better – Roof in Prague’s city centre, between Národní třída and Myslíkova. We have a space, we have staff, we have the know-how and experience. The only thing missing is enough funds for reconstruction and equipment for the new establishment. If you help us overcome this obstacle, we will be able to significantly increase our operational capacity, launch our own catering services, custom cake production, and start making our own vegan products. This will enable us to employ up to twice as many homeless people and people who have served a sentence, and help them also with their housing situation and other issues such as executions. Also, we will be able to distribute even more lunches to people in need every day. In short, we want to open a proper professional vegan restaurant, which is also budget-friendly, where socially vulnerable people can get a decent job and where we make decisions about the business direction collectively. Last but not least, we want to create a community in the centre of our beautiful capital city which unfortunately sometimes feels more like an amusement park for tourists. We want to offer space in which everyone can feel good.
To be able to achieve all that, we need your help. Covid erased all our savings, and even though we already managed to raise some funds, we need to get more support through crowdfunding. If we succeed, we will be able to do a thorough reconstruction of the new space and make the new bigger Roof at least as cosy as the current one at Žižkov. Naturally, a larger establishment also means more appliences, furniture, cookware and other equipment. The funds raised will be used for the reconstruction of the new Roof and for basic equipment, so that we can bring the new space to life as soon as possible.
What have we achieved?
Over the four years of its existence, our little bistro at Žižkov has employed 19 people who had experienced homelessness or served a sentence. Some of them used The Roof as a transfer station to a job in their own field, others have stayed with us from the beginning up until now. We helped Milan find a flat, Lucka to move from a tent to temporary accommodation, and thanks to a fundraising campaign, Jana could partly pay off her debts. We have distributed over 5120 pending lunches to people in need. They were consumed in our bistro and during the pandemic, in the reception centre Naděje and the community centre R-mosty. We have done around 200 vegan catering jobs, including several weddings, and made lots of custom cakes. Also, we have prepared over a hundred thousand delicious dishes for you and served not only Czech cuisine in its unconventional plant-based form. Therefore, we believe that we are ready for the next collective step.
The three pillars of The Roof
Social – we employ homeless people, people who had served a sentence or are on probation. Such people are disadvantaged on the job market, and it is often very difficult for them to get out of debt and start a new life. Apart from offering them a decent job, we also help these people solve their housing situation, debts, executions and other problems that often seem unsolvable to them when they have to deal with them on their own. Besides other things, we have also started to offer pending lunches. It means that customers can prepay for lunch menus for people in need who can then eat them while getting warm in our place.
Workers cooperative – we make all important decisions collectively during our cooperative meetings. Any employee can join our cooperative after six months of working with us and become co-owner who can participate in the running of the enterprise.
Plant-based – we believe the future is plant-based. Our products are 100% vegan, so that we help the planet and especially the animals. It is a sustainable form of diet that we want to introduce also to the broader public. We specialise primarily in the traditional Czech cuisine in its unconventional plant-based form. This way, we can also present Czech gastronomy to foreigners who do not eat meat.
Why do we do it?
Because we believe that every person has the right to a life in dignity. Also, to the right to good, plant-based food made with love at The Roof. You may have noticed how important the social aspect of the bistro is to us – we have built our lives around it, and we want to continue in this way because it really makes sense to us. Support us and we will make each of your visits at The Roof memorable – with amazing food that makes a difference. Think about it – when was helping others so easy that the only thing you had to do was to eat a delicious meal?
How can you help?
Apart from a financial contribution, you can also help us by sharing our HitHit campaign with your friends and on social media, so that we manage to reach our target amount. We would also be grateful if you could contribute with more items we could add as rewards for our donors. Thank you ❤️