Finland helps chronically homeless people out of hostels and into flats with contracts under their own names
of bongs occupies an entire bookshelf in her immaculate little flat, though she does not smoke marijuana—she just likes the way they look. Her weaknesses, alcohol and pills, landed her in a homeless shelter in Helsinki for three years. But since 2018 she has had an apartment of her own, thanks to a strategy called “housing first” with which Finland has all but eliminated homelessness.
The housing-first approach got its start in North America in the 1990s. Previously social-service agencies used a “staircase” model: to qualify for a subsidised flat, homeless people first had to control their behavioural problems . In the meantime they had to sleep in shelters. The complex where Tuya lives, run by the Salvation Army, is classified as “supported housing”. There are 20 staff for the 87 residents. Each flat has a kitchen, and there is a jolly communal café. Social workers keep track of each resident’s problems and run work activities. Every year a few graduate to less dependent housing, but expectations are modest, says Antti Martikainen, the complex’s director. Persuading a troublesome resident to stop dropping rubbish out of the window is a win.
The poor face rising rents and precarious employment, says Bruno Morel of Emmaüs Solidarité, a housing organisation. Each year from November 1st to March 31st France bars landlords from evicting tenants, and this year the Paris region created an extra 7,000 temporary winter shelter places. But Mr Morel says it needs 10,000.
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