Finland

Housing First is an established concept in Finland since more than 15 years thanks to the Y-Foundation as a pioneer. The Y-Foundation was also one of the founding members of the Housing First Europe Hub.

In 2016 the Finish Y-Foundation together with FEANTSA established the Housing First Europe Hub. The Y-Foundation has been a key player in establishing Housing First as the main response to homelessness in Finland. Since 2007 national policies shifted towards reducing long-term homelessness through Housing First programmes.

As a result, in Finland, the utilisation of emergency and temporary accommodations, such as shelters, hostels, and temporary supported housing, has significantly declined. The number of homeless individuals residing in hostels or boarding houses decreased by 76% from 2008 to 2017. This reduction is attributed to the widespread adoption of prevention strategies, the replacement of outdated models of communal supported housing with Housing First and housing-led approaches, which largely replaced emergency shelters.

ARA, the Housing Finance and Development Centre, has also been involved in the implementation of Housing First in Finland since the start through subsidising new and renovated homes as well as giving housing advice to municipalities.

As a result, Finland is one of the only European countries that registers decreasing homelessness numbers. The country’s goal is to end homelessness in Finland all together.

Finland has managed to reduce homelessness in recent years, but homelessness as a phenomenon is still alive and well. The homelessness situation often escalates in the context of social and economic crises.

Country spotlight

Our partners in Finland

Trainers

Juha Kahila

Y-Säätiö/Y-Foundation

Juha has been working for 10 years in the field of homelessness. He started as a frontline support worker in 2010 for the Finnish Youth housing association services (NALPA) before becoming Housing First service manager and then CEO of NALPA. He joined Y-Säätiö in 2018 as coordinator for the National Housing First Development Network and became the Lead Coordinator in 2020 and is currently head of international affairs at Y-Säätiö. As part of his role at the Network, Juha organises training courses at national level, and is working on developing the Housing First model together with dozens of NGO’s and cities.

Country: Finland

Languages: EnglishFinnish

Maria Degerman

Y-Foundation

Maria has started working with clients. Substance abuse, mental health, social problems and homelessness are familiar themes to her from that time. She has also designed services for these client groups and acted as Programme Manager for the Helsinki region of the programme to reduce long-term homelessness. Currently, Maria works at the Y-Foundation, where she has been for the last eleven years in various positions. She is currently working in the Housing First Network Developers and her tasks include the dissemination and mainstreaming of Housing First work, for example through trainings.
maria.degerman@ysaatio.fi

Country: Finland

Languages: EnglishFinnish

Mia Saarela

Y-Säätiö

Mia is Coordinator for the National Housing First Development Network in Finland. She is passionate about eradicating homelessness and developing new ways of approaching housing-related issues. Mia has a backround in youth housing, social services & child protection services and is also experience in networking, providing training and a platform for learning about Housing First and housing related social work.

Country: Finland

Languages: EnglishFinnish

Pilvi Azeem

Y-Säätiö/Y-Foundation

Pilvi started working in the homelessness field in Scotland in 2005 as an assertive outreach worker. After returning to Finland, she joined the Helsinki Deaconess Institute in one of their newly opened Housing First units, providing supported living for long-term homeless people. She later helped establish a new Housing First community-based supported housing unit, ensuring workers were familiar with Housing First principles and that support work aligned with them. Pilvi is currently a project coordinator for the NEA project, which aims to end women’s homelessness using women-specific methods across eight multidisciplinary sub-projects.

Country: Finland

Languages: EnglishFinnish

Taina Hytönen

Programme Coordinator, Housing First Europe Hub

Taina works as the Manager of International Work at Y-Foundation in Finland. After studying social sciences at the University of Helsinki, she worked for the city of Helsinki developing services for people with addictions and mental health problems. Since 1999, she has worked at Y-Foundation, initially building networks with partner organisations to provide services for tenants. She has also coordinated the national development network on Housing First. In 2016, her main role has been as a Programme Coordinator for the Housing First Europe Hub, supporting the growth and development of Housing First across Europe.
taina.hytonen@housingfirsteurope.eu

Country: Finland