Opinion|Reader’s opinion
Homelessness is not solved with emergency accommodation.
In October in the middle, the Night of the Homeless was celebrated all over Finland. At the events, it was stated that homelessness has decreased rapidly, but not sufficiently.
Housing is a basic human right, but still, according to statistics, there were almost 4,000 homeless people in Finland in 2021. In Helsinki, there were more than 1,200 of them. In addition to homelessness, there is so-called hidden homelessness, i.e. lodging with friends. Helsinki’s ambitious goal is to eliminate homelessness by 2025.
Apartment first model has guided Finnish homelessness work for twenty years, and the result has been born. The housing first model is in many ways the best thing that has happened in the field of social work in the 21st century. The central idea of the model is that one’s own home is the basis of rehabilitation. Social and health problems can only be solved when a person can trust that he has a permanent home. For this reason, the Asunto ensin model emphasizes the importance of a lease agreement that is valid for the time being, and residents are not required, for example, to be sober as a condition for getting an apartment.
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Your own home is the basis of rehabilitation.
There are homeless people of all ages, representatives of all genders, both those born in Finland and those who immigrated to our country, and everyone has their own life story. One life challenge, for example being unable to work, easily gathers a bunch of other problems around it. Mental endurance is tested, and using substances can seem like the only way to escape.
The tighter a person is, the weaker the possibilities of choice seem. A person’s good choices require psychological and concrete security. Your home is one of the most important security providers for all of us. Also from the point of view of the police’s field work, it is absolutely important that the customer has a realistic chance for basic rights, such as housing.
Apartment first model promotes everyone’s safety. When people are covered by services and receive the support they need, there are fewer disturbances. At the deacon institution, an integral part of the Housing First units’ activities is neighborhood work, which helps to maintain a good dialogue with the neighborhood. This is how problems are prevented and solved. By increasing understanding of different life situations, tolerance increases and fears recede.
The Ministry of the Environment just appointed a surveyor to map out how the goal of eliminating homelessness can be achieved. We see that the Housing First model is a significant part of achieving this goal. Homelessness is not solved with emergency accommodation, overnight shelters or other temporary solutions. It is solved by increasing the decision-makers’ understanding that everyone needs a home and the right kind of support for it.
Heikki Mäkiprosi
senior constable, preventive function, Helsinki Police Department
Felicia Kazandjian
neighborhood work coordinator, Diakonissalaitos
The reader’s opinions are speeches written by HS readers, which are selected and delivered by the HS editors. You can leave an opinion piece or familiarize yourself with the principles of writing at the address www.hs.fi/kiryotamielipidekeisuis/.
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