Mastodawn

Oren Lew Dec 13, 2023

“In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Those affected receive a small apartment & counselling with no preconditions. 4 out of 5 people affected make their way back into a stable life. And all this is CHEAPER than accepting homelessness.” https://t.co/EH3reri9lz

David Fetter Dec 13, 2023

@BrentToderian it has been clear for decades that paying more to have a dehoused population is ON PURPOSE.

wiggly Dec 13, 2023

@BrentToderian Are drugs a factor there? I've read that alcohol and coke are, dunno about the stuff that's killing 2/day in my city. This 3 year old article doesn't say a word about substance use, or how Finns deal with it.

Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK Dec 13, 2023

@wiggly @BrentToderian similar level of drugs use to the rest of Northern Europe and a high number of deaths particularly amongst young people.

https://www.euronews.com/2023/03/16/why-are-so-many-young-finns-dying-from-drug-abuse

Why are so many young Finns dying from drug abuse?

Finland is often held up as a shining example on the world stage. Yet is the European country with the highest proportion of under 25s dying from drugs. #EuronewsWitness

euronews

ChristineSaysHi Dec 15, 2023

@vfrmedia @wiggly @BrentToderian Nowhere is paradise, I think. People will always have problems but in wealthy societies there is a capacity to cushion people from some of them and perhaps provide that fresh start. It's interesting that people see prison as a way to beat drugs. Maybe that offers some kind of insight into treatment pathways.

Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK Dec 15, 2023

@ChristineSaysHi @wiggly @BrentToderian prison in Nordic countries is highly geared towards eventual rehabilitation of the offender (its not a holiday camp and no one *wants* to end up in there), but neither is it just somewhere to throw away the key and let the offender rot away (or more likely go back to crime after their release)...

wiggly Dec 19, 2023

@vfrmedia @BrentToderian Thanks, this helps. It's difficult to compare my city's public health problems to Finland -- our population is larger than Helsinki and our metro area has a larger population than all of Finland in 15% of the area, for example -- but this article suggests that their housing policy is effective despite a surprisingly low percentage of addiction treatment.

ChristineSaysHi Dec 15, 2023

@wiggly @BrentToderian It's often difficult to see what problem needs attention first, but as a community having people in houses where they won't be subject to the incidental dangers of street living and can perhaps access support services seems sensible to me.

wiggly Dec 15, 2023

@ChristineSaysHi @BrentToderian I don't disagree. My city's homeless situation is greatly affected by addiction, just curious how it compares to Finland's situation.

Shine Dec 18, 2023

@wiggly @BrentToderian That's where the "preconditions" come in. Plenty of countries have some program to help people get from streets, but the usual condition is "No substance abuse". And from my experience, getting out of addiction (in my case nicotine) if your life situation and mental health are bad is near impossible.

I've read another article about this program in Finland, and they specifically mentioned that addicts are getting help with their addiction after their living situation stabilizes.

wiggly Dec 19, 2023

@shine @BrentToderian My personal experience with addiction mirrors yours, but note that I'm not advocating for abstinence first (or anything, for that matter).

It's well-established that such an approach only works for a small minority of users, including those using legal substances like nicotine and alcohol.

I'll look for more info on how Finland integrates their other health programs with this housing policy, thanks for the reply.

Leisureguy Dec 13, 2023

@BrentToderian It has seemed to me that government programs for the homeless in the US and some other nations include a tinge of wanting to mete out some punishment for being homeless.

🇳𝗮ꜟ𝖼𝘩 Dec 13, 2023

@Leisureguy @BrentToderian
Not a tinge of it here in the UK, but full technicolour, when the last home secretary defended confiscating homeless people's tents by saying homelessness was a "lifestyle choice".

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/04/suella-braverman-says-rough-sleeping-is-lifestyle-choice

Suella Braverman says rough sleeping is ‘lifestyle choice’

Home secretary criticised for tweets vowing to restrict use of tents by homeless people, ‘many of them from abroad’

The Guardian

Chupacabra 78704 Dec 13, 2023

@BrentToderian Linus Torvalds is from there.

teledyn 𓂀 Dec 13, 2023

Who would have thought! The homeless are the homeless because they lack homes! Amazing. Dare we call it brilliant?

What's next? Recognizing that poverty is caused by a lack of money? 🤣

Sorry. I'm in a snarky mood. And running out of patience with humanity.

🐧DaveNull🐧 ☣️pResident Evil☣Dec 13, 2023

@teledyn No, poverty is actually caused by greed and exploitation, not by "lack of money"…

Deus Dec 13, 2023

@BrentToderian Source: https://mas.to/users/yogthos/statuses/111567329216589237

Yogthos (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image

mas.to

Veranderwens Dec 13, 2023

@BrentToderian
Kijk rechtse rakkers van het spijkerharde beleid
@VVD
Met je #schuldenindustrie
Met je commerciële #jeugdzorg
Met je ego-ieder-voor-zich-"participatie"
Met je #rendementsdenken

Compassie is goedkoper, om in jullie terminologie te blijven.

https://scoop.me/housing-first-finland-homelessness/

Finland ends homelessness and provides shelter for all in need - scoop.me

In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Why? The country applies the "Housing First" concept agains homelessness.

scoop.me

Stephanie 🎀Dec 13, 2023

@BrentToderian Far better than the absolute abuse homeless people get in countries like mine.

Kern Dec 13, 2023

@BrentToderian home ownership is the carrot and homelessness is the stick. Capitalists love the homeless because our mere presence scares you into working harder and more menial jobs

Uair Dec 14, 2023

Amazing! The solution to homelessness is placing people in homes? Why did nobody think of this sooner?

Finnish rehab works, too.

ChristineSaysHi Dec 15, 2023

@BrentToderian My country (Australia) virtually ended homelessness during the first year of COVID too, by making hotels and motels provide homeless and low income people (at great taxpayer expense of course). Naturally, once the crisis was over, and all the money spent, back they went onto the streets, with not s single new accommodation built in most places. I'll be interested to see long term how this Finnish action works - it seems smart and I support it, but politics has a way ...

Colby Brown Dec 16, 2023

@BrentToderian "Housing First" works. My wife's family was homeless in NYC after a guest locked them out of their apartment in a way that made it impossible for them to go back. Details are hazy (it was the 80's) but what I know for sure is that her mother eventually got hooked up with one of the very first "housing first" experiments in the US. The stability that apartment provided allowed my wife's mother to build a career and gave her daughters a more peaceful place to study.

Unredacted Epstein files now Dec 16, 2023

@BrentToderian @paulhutchinson Here’s hoping that one day ALL countries will become civilised.

@BrentToderian the “and counselling” part is critical. So many attempts to tackle this neglect that mental health is a MASSIVE part of the issue. Good on Finland!