The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Homeless people brought in out of cold
Finland is the only country in Europe where homelessness has decreased in recent years. Ahead of Dundee’s Sleep In The Park event, Jack McKeown finds out what their secret is
Between 2008 and 2016, homelessness in Finland decreased by 35% – or almost 1,600 people, to put a human figure on it.
That makes it the only country in Europe to have made inroads into homelessness in recent years.
One of the big drivers behind the fall in people sleeping rough is the Y-Foundation.
Set up in 1985 in response to a housing shortage, the organisation began buying, building and renovating apartments for homeless people to live in.
At that point, 20,000 of Finland’s 4.9 million inhabitants were homeless.
The Y-Foundation was set up by an alliance of local authorities, cities, trade unions, mental health and construction bodies in the Finnish Red Cross.
Its mission is to provide permanent, affordable housing for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
Today it has more than 1,660 apartments in upwards of 50 locations. Social housing in Finland makes up 13% of the total housing stock and 20% in new housing areas.
They work under the premise that while a roof over someone’s head won’t solve other issues, it’s impossible to solve those issues until they have a place to call home.
Juha Kaakinen, CEO of the Y-Foundation, said: “Our national programme started in 2008, and it has been successful in the sense that we have been able to provide permanent solutions for homeless people in need.
“Homelessness has been reduced and there are now virtually no rough sleepers in the whole country.”
While finding, refurbishing and subsidising housing for homeless people might seem a big investment, Mr Kaakinen says it actually works out cheaper than not helping homeless people off the streets.
“We have done some evaluations, and it shows that when a homeless person has been given a furnished flat, we save about €15,000.
“This means the cost of social care, health care and justice systems has gone down – and that can really be seen across the country.”
The charity Social Bite hopes to emulate the Y-Foundation’s success in Scotland.
On December 8, it’s holding a series of Sleep in the Park events in four cities across Dundee, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The events aim to raise £4 million towards securing 830 flats in Scotland to take rough sleepers off the streets.
Mr Kaakinen says: “I think you can expect that there will be some success in Scotland as there are a lot of organisations that will be able to support it.”