Helsinki’s Radical Solution to Homelessness

[Cole train]

We have a lot of empty apartments so it works ok.(a lot more than people need)

All the homeless here are addicts or mentally ill pretty much with some normal people sprinkled in

 

[Nameless King]

Unbased and cringepilled

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/28/trump-wisconsin-rally-touts-economy

Your welcome halfwit

 

[mrbaapt]

try that bullshit in India first and see if it works there. Then maybe I will change my mind.

Less than 20% of people in India pay income tax.

Such a system could only work if the tax base was proportional to the income.


The US has plenty of tax dollars for a program like this.

 

[F1980]

Guys I have a great idea. Why dont we ship all our homeless to Finland?

 

[Cole train]

Guys I have a great idea. Why dont we ship all our homeless to Finland?

They will bounce back to usa the next hour.

Weather here is horrible for living on the streets

 

[Gregolian]

I think the US can make a bigger dent by tackling Healthcare access first (which I believe Finland has).

I believe most of the homeless in the US suffer from mental health disease and addiction.

I guess it wouldn't hurt doing both but I don't think this would be popular politically in the US

This.

Go to any major metro city like Detroit, Baltimore, Seattle, and others that are similar and you'll see TONS of what was governmental housing/rowhouses/tower style apartments that stand vacant or near vacant cause the people that financially qualify for them no questions asked have mental conditions that they are self medicating with meth and shit.

 

[HunterSdVa29]

They will bounce back to usa the next hour.

Weather here is horrible for living on the streets

ya i noticed living in Germany that were a few (and i mean a small few) homeless near the Frankfurt Bahnhoff and a few places in Cologne/Berlin

but overall, it's not something you really saw.

Probably a result of their impressive SW safety net programs, and it's also cold as polar bear balls a good portion of the year (well as a Southern Californian, maybe not for a Finn/Russian)

 

[JSN]

We have a lot of empty apartments so it works ok.(a lot more than people need)

All the homeless here are addicts or mentally ill pretty much with some normal people sprinkled in

I think for the most part it's the same way in the US as well.

I would caution that giving people food, clothing and shelter may not actually do a whole lot. In the US people are essentially given homes free or almost free as well as food subsidies and all that, but they can trash those places very quickly and addicts can essentially sell their possessions and food subsidies quickly to pay for more drugs.

 

[Cole train]

ya i noticed living in Germany that were a few (and i mean a small few) homeless near the Frankfurt Bahnhoff and a few places in Cologne/Berlin

but overall, it's not something you really saw.

Probably a result of their impressive SW safety net programs, and it's also cold as polar bear balls a good portion of the year (well as a Southern Californian, maybe not for a Finn/Russian)

Yeah this is no cali where you can sleep on the beach.

Here if your ass doesnt find a staircase to sleep in at night and your drunk ass falls asleep its highly likely you will lose body parts due to to cold if you are in snow

Thats why most try to get themself in prison for winter and mostly you see homeless in summer when they get out of prison

 

[HunterSdVa29]

My coworker is on my City Council, was the Mayor for 2017-18. TBH i never realized how hard it is even to track these sorts of things.

Apparently our County (largest in the US) sends out workers to essentially Census style count the homeless, this is how the funds are then dispersed to allocate for programs to help. Well in our city of around 32k, we have a known 150-200 homeless people (mostly old Veterans) but when the county workers count they only ever get like 18-25. People refuse to be counted, they don't trust government employees, they're strung out, etc....

I never even considered how they even get the #s to be honest

 

[The Diplomat]

The people who live in the homes still have to pay rent after the first three months and can be evicted if they don't or break one of the rules(for instance, some of the housing units do not allow drugs or alcohol). The idea, which makes sense to me, is that without a home the homeless have no foundation to build off of. Give them a roof over their head they can come back to and eventually things like securing steady employment will come. Of course its not that simple but that's the basic idea.

I suppose the link's "unconditionally" part is false, then.

It's an intriguing idea. I'm not quite sure if it is sustainable in the long run, but the Finnish are different than Americans. Having the space/land and finances to pull it off initially sounds fine, but it isn't an indefinite solution. Maybe some pick themselves up and start paying rent, maybe others don't, and end up rotating with other homeless in the area. Could end up as a revolving door.

It'll be interesting to see how it turns out.

 

[Islam Imamate]

I suppose the link's "unconditionally" part is false, then.

The three month trial is unconditional.

But after a three-month trial, tenants’ contracts are permanent – they can’t be moved unless they break the rules (Rukkila does not allow drug or alcohol use; some other Housing First units do) or fail to pay the rent.

It's an intriguing idea. I'm not quite sure if it is sustainable in the long run, but the Finnish are different than Americans. Having the space/land and finances to pull it off initially sounds fine, but it isn't an indefinite solution. Maybe some pick themselves up and start paying rent, maybe others don't, and end up rotating with other homeless in the area. Could end up as a revolving door.

It'll be interesting to see how it turns out.

If you read the excerpts in the OP you'll see that homelessness has been reduced significantly over the decade or so that the program has been in effect.

Housing First’s early goal was to create 2,500 new homes. It has created 3,500. Since its launch in 2008, the number of long-term homeless people in Finland has fallen by more than 35 percent. Rough sleeping has been all but eradicated in Helsinki, where only one 50-bed night shelter remains, and where winter temperatures can plunge to -20C.

Ten years isn't a lifetime but its a decent time period for which to judge a program like this

 

[HunterSdVa29]

i think this can potentially work, it's the space/location in the US that creates issues IMO

The funding for it, would largely come from higher income/metro areas where space/rent is often at a premium and people have a NIMBY attitude (same as Halfway Houses, Rehab centers, Prisons, etc....)


But the actual space for this type of thing would be like the state of Montana, or S. Dakota, or the vast majority of Nevada that is empty as fuh, etc....

Virtually nobody lives between say where i live and Ridgecrest (minus the immortal Barstow), that's a huge area we could plop people.....

But A) nobody even the homeless wants to live there, and B) what job prospects are there upon recovery if it actually works?

Perhaps create a system w/ homeless centers in the more rural areas, and then transitionary places in the urban/metro areas upon closer to completion?

Haven't other states been literally bussing homeless to other locales? Surely this would be a more prudent idea than that?

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

A good cold snap would take care of the problem for alot cheaper

 

[Cole train]

Finland is the only EU country where homelessness is falling. Its secret? Giving people homes as soon as they need them – unconditionally.
tl;dr Capital of Finland reduced its homeless problem through a Housing First policy where the homeless are given access to homes unconditionally. The city government uses its ownership of land, housing units, and a construction company as well as zoning laws to facilitate this approach.




I have heard of the Housing First approach to the homeless problem but this was an interesting article that went a little more in depth into a specific Housing First initiative that seems to be fruitful. Other countries have shown interest in the approach, from France to Australia, but I'd like to see something of the sort tried in American cities.

Also lol at -20c

They can pludge to -30c

-20 aint shit

 

[MMAGA]

I think part of the Helsinki model is that having permanent housing makes mental health treatment more effective. Think of it like the Maslow's hierarchy of needs. A person isn't going to come to grips with the root cause of their mental illness and addictions without having basic needs like food, water, safety, and housing taken care of first.

Many, if not most, have made the decision to leave their homes, though. I'm certain at one point, or another, they had a roof under their head. Their decisions, namely those who've turned to drugs, have led them down this path.

 

[HunterSdVa29]

Also lol at -20c

They can pludge to -30c

-20 aint shit

that's disgusting and should be illegal IMO

i was once in -21F (about -29C i think) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
A) the trees were literally frozen, I've never seen that before
and B) when we used the porta potties, our piss froze upon hitting the toilet, making what i dubbed 'pissicles'

never again my dude
this place right here

 

[MMAGA]

A good cold snap would take care of the problem for alot cheaper

That's a lot of necks to snap, though.

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

That's a lot of necks to snap, though.

I was joking. Although I'm not in favor of increasing income tax, vat, property or sales taxes to pay for a program like that

 

[Cole train]

that's disgusting and should be illegal IMO

i was once in -21F (about -29C i think) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
A) the trees were literally frozen, I've never seen that before
and B) when we used the porta potties, our piss froze upon hitting the toilet, making what i dubbed 'pissicles'

never again my dude
this place right here

gotta be closer to -40 to be piss freezing temperature

minus 30 is still livable

but i have to say taking a shit outside in military while it was minus 33 was fun lol