Finland Solved Homelessness: Here's How (Spoiler: It's More Than Housing First)

For those of you leaving comments that we can't do what Finland is doing here in America, watch this - From a Tent to a Home https://youtu.be/0hkkGH_QADA?si=bEU1o5T77sZgBbpN and this - Homeless Veteran Gets an Apartment https://youtu.be/SizHuR225Co?si=GsnuOqXMJSuEsrQm

I'm living in housing like this in America. They turned a motel into an apartment complex. I am now addiction free mentally stable and working a great job.

YOU CAN NEVER GET SO LOW THAT WE WILL NOT BE BESIDE YOU❤. Well done Finland 🇫🇮

I’m Canadian, homeless and indigenous…no help from our government, no help from the band office…no one cares. We are looked at like a virus, we’re the problem. They blame “us” for the situation we find ourselves. It’s sad ridiculous and degrading. I wish this country functioned like Finland. A stable home changes so much, giving a person dignity is a solution not a problem!

The biggest obstacle to doing this in the US is this myth we have that if you're rich, you're a good person, and if you're poor, well, you deserve it. There are more empty houses owned by venture capital than homeless people in the US; we could end homelessness overnight without building anything, but we won't because we treat homelessness like it's a lifestyle choice made by horrible people, and helping them somehow diminishes the rest of us. One of the most harmful mass delusions of the second millennium.

As an American, I lived homeless for 2 years following a devastating car wreck. I could have gone into a shelter but I was not willing to give up my family, my dogs. I met many, many other homeless people who felt the same way. I was making $250K a year before the wreck which caused a TBI and multiple physical disabilities. It was a judge's daughter who hit me and I never saw a dime. Most homeless people I met were not addicts, but fell thru the cracks when trying to get help.

“Housing first is not housing only” & “you can never be so low , where we won’t walk beside you” are statements of truth and necessity. Putting the humanity back into the issues

17:21 “You can never get so low that we will not be beside you. We will walk with you”. My god, I am crying. This is the best thing you can tell somebody, the best words a person can hear. Is this beautiful woman a saint or an angel? Yes and no. This is not only her to thank but her country too. This society does THIS, while other countries and societies do wars. The true greatness of a nation can be measured by how a nation cares for its weakest.

I have been homeless in the Netherlands for 15 years. Had lost trust in people. In the shelter I saw one girl come in as an intern, stay as a volunteer and then as fulltime employee. She was that one person I trusted and asked her to get me off the streets. She got me into Housing First and essentially saved my life. Life on the streets in the Netherlands was tough, but I can't begin to comprehend how hard it would be in a country like Finland. Keep up the good work. [edit[ I still find it incomprehendible that's it's proven to be cheaper to help the homeless rather than to ignore them. Some countries can learn something from this. (Looking at you, USA) [/edit]

The problem in the US is that homelessness has become a business. Politicians and "non profits" make billions off the issue.

In the United States we blame individuals for their homeless state, not the fact that there is not enough affordable housing; completely inadequate mental healthcare; etc, etc, etc. People respond to this by looking for alternative lifestyles such as van life or tiny homes. Towns then work hard to find ways to restrict people from doing this. It is absolutely disgusting the way poverty is criminalized in this country.

As someone who works with homeless in Texas. There’s almost no options except get a job that’s time frame allows you to get back to the shelter in time for bed draws. There’s only a couple of shelters and they are always full, and turning people away constantly. Not only that, now our group homes were taken away for IDD clients as well. I can’t stress how difficult it is, and how broken our system is. They are punished for working, and punished for not working.

I worked in housing first for Washington State. The biggest struggles were balancing grace and accountability. Lots received assistance with housing for months to a year. But, did not necessarily have the support necessary to hold clients accountable. I saw many case managers burn out because people would rather work at Panda Express or Amazon then help the homeless. Because of this heavy workload, many case managers cut corners to do the bare minimum and clients were not given what was planned. The biggest difference between Finland and the United States, seems to be that they are more for the community rather than out for themselves. Individualism is tearing America apart and many don’t see how bad it’s getting till it happens to a loved one or they become homeless themselves. I pray that Americans wake up and help their neighbors before it’s too late. Because we not only have a homeless epidemic, but a drug epidemic, a trafficking epidemic, domestic violence epidemic. The problem keeps worsening, yet we have the same system but without the heart. May the LORD Jesus turn the American heart of stone to a heart of flesh that seeks to give and not take 🙏❤️.

As Gabor Mate says, "don't ask someone 'what is wrong with you?' ask them 'what happened to you?" Addiction is a response to pain.. a desire to find relief from pain. Being unhoused is a response to housing being too expensive to sustain.

The difference is that in Finland there is a social democracy, empathy and less greed.

Finland restoring dignity. We (all Americans)must do this.

This approach is what needs to happen here in Vancouver. The city needs to provide some free and affordable housing so that our homeless community can start to rehabilitate. The expectation that we have for these communities to rehabilitate first before we can provide them with housing is ridiculous and unrealistic.

Being half Finnish and half Swedish. And living in California, my Father always said how much more advanced the Scandinavian countries are. And he was right.

I'm on the Gold Coast in Australia and 3 days ago I was leaving a shopping centre and saw a man lying outside in heatwave conditions. I went back to assist him only to be confronted by security guards trying to push him along. I stood up for him and argued with the 3 officers and would not let them treat him like rubbish. I could barely find any organisations to assist which was not only frustrating but heartbreaking. I found one that was an hour away but they could only send someone to help after hours!! That's ludicrous. I called an ambulance against security's opposition as the man was obviously suffering heat stroke. When the ambulance arrived I gave them the contact details of the organisation I had spoken to earlier and hopefully they have intervened. I'm disgusted how humans treat others who are struggling. We need change at a government level otherwise this will only get worse. I fear that this man will be released back into the same conditions he was already struggling in. We need continuation of care, and we need governments to stop focusing on making profits for their wealthy supporters and start doing their job to look after everyone.

Every city, county, and state official in America NEED to watch this!💙🌎