Housing first: in Finland the program that has reduced the number of homeless by offering them a… roof

Housing first: in Finland the program that has reduced the number of homeless by offering them a… roof

In Finland, homelessness is decreasing: the Housing First project gives a home to those in need, a starting point for social reintegration.

He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him

In Finland i homeless are decreasing thanks to the National Housing First plan which provides for the guarantee of a accommodation for all, without having to have particular requirements or merits.
Housing first is a project that has restored dignity to thousands of people and has brought down the number of homeless Finns by more than 30%.





The house first of all

Housing first - the house above all - is a Finnish project born in Helsinki about ten years ago on the initiative of a sociologist, a doctor, a bishop and a politician who in 2007 intervened in the report "Nimi Ovessa" (your name on the door). The four were looking for one long-term solution to guarantee a home for those who did not have one, aware of the fact that the policies adopted up to that point had proved unsuccessful.
Temporary solutions where i homeless they were hosted during the cold months, in fact, they had not solved the problem and the reception centers became places where violence and degradation were rampant, making homeless people prefer to sleep on the street rather than being hosted in even more dangerous places.
Many intervention programs for offer housing to the homeless then, they required requirements that the homeless could not meet, such as having resolved addictions to drugs or alcohol: those who live on the street and do not have a job often fall into the addiction tunnel and get out of it is not easy.
With the Housing first program it was decided to start from the house for allow people to rebuild their lives: the house is no longer seen as a reward for a journey but as a starting point for the reintegration into society of people in difficulty.
The initiative was carried out thanks to state, municipal and various non-governmental organizations funding and since 2008 has created around 3.500 homes, reducing the number of Finnish homeless by more than 30%.

Moving was the statement made to the Guardian by Tatu Ainesmaa, a 32 years old who got the house thanks to Housing First:



“It's a real miracle,” says Tatu. “I lived in some communes, but everyone was on drugs and I had to leave. I've been in bad relationships - same thing. I slept on my brother's sofa. I have been in a dormitory. I've never had a home of my own. This is a fantastic thing for me ”.

According to the Guardian, Housing first has so far cost about 250 million euros to Finland: for every former homeless person, the country has, however, saved in health, judicial and social costs equal to 15 thousand euros for each person helped.

How Housing first works

get a home, the homeless must not have particular qualifications or merits: housing is granted without conditions. The houses are owned by the municipality of Helsinki, often the result of the conversion of pre-existing hostels or accommodation facilities.
After a three-month trial period, the ex homeless a rental contract is administered. In the event that the former homeless person has a source of income, he is required to contribute at least part of the rental costs.
The tenant can stay in the assigned apartment indefinitely unless they break the rules: in some cases, for example, alcohol or drugs cannot be brought into the house.
The former homeless are then escorted to a social and work reintegration path which provides for the resolution of any addictions and the search for a job.



Read also:

  • The eco-village for the homeless built by a Scottish chain of bars
  • How to turn old buses into walking showers for the homeless (VIDEO)
  • The anonymous benefactor who paid for 70 hotel rooms to the homeless left in the cold

Tatiana Maselli

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