Have the Finns Ended Homelessness? – Event Details
Have the Finns ended homelessness?
..and can Scots follow their lead?
Speaker – Juha Kaakinen CEO of the Y-Foundation in Helsinki
Venue – Grassmarket Community Centre 86 Candlemaker Row, Edinburgh EH1 2QA
Tuesday 18 September
Time 6-8pm
The Finns have come up with a radical approach to tackling homelessness. They give homeless people houses without having to engage with addiction or mental health services first.
Housing First is a national strategy to eradicate homelessness that’s been running in Finland since 2008. It’s built on cooperation between the government, local municipalities and NGOs and the simple notion that people can tackle social and emotional problems better if they have a secure home.
Juha Kaakinen is the CEO of the Y-Foundation in Helsinki and he believes anyone can do what the Finns have done – “It’s simply a question of political will.”
Sceptics argue that giving homes to homeless people means subsidising addiction, huge bills when it all goes wrong and robs people of an incentive to engage with services. Strangely enough, that hasn’t happened in Finland. But the number of rough sleepers in Britain with deaths every week and homelessness is rising in Scotland too. Join us to talk about how the Housing First approach might work in Scotland.
Presentation
Juha Kaaninen of the Y Foundation gave an excellent presentation at this meeting. Below are the various materials from this Nordic Horizons event. There is a copy of his presentation, a short audio podcast interview and two separate films of the event itself.
Download the Have the Finns ended Homelessness Presentation