The autumn chill is no friend to the capital city's homeless. According to the government’s latest estimates, at the end of 2012 there were 450 homeless families and 7,850 single homeless people in Finland. More than half of the country’s homeless live in Helsinki and one in four of them is under the age of 25. Half of all homeless families -- over 200 -- are immigrants.
The NGO No Fixed Abode (NFA) provides a modest drop-in centre for the city’s destitute. Especially during the cooling autumn days, the no-frills centre becomes a magnet for the homeless, providing a place to get a meal or a cup of coffee, read a book, use a computer, or just chat with the friendly volunteer staff.
Executive Manager Sanna Tiivola said it's not easy to keep up with changes in homelessness in the city - statistics generally lag a year behind the situation on the ground. As it is, she said, the organisation’s 60 emergency berths simply are not enough to accommodate the numbers of homeless flocking to Helsinki looking for a home.
"The problem is now there's a lot of people coming from abroad and also from other cities in Finland. They all want to stay in Helsinki, but there are no places," Tiivola told Yle News.
Tapio Tähtinen, a director of housing services with Helsinki's Deaconess Institute estimated that there are about 300 long-term homeless in the city. He said that number has remained stubborn, showing little change over the years.
“As soon as places are found for some of the long-term homeless, they're replaced by others coming into the city. And also here in Helsinki there’s a lack of small affordable rental housing and this also affects the homelessness situation,” Tähtinen explained.
Youth homelessness doubles in one year
Data on the country’s destitute are maintained by the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (ARA). Earlier this year the organisation calculated that more than 1,000 homeless youth were in Helsinki in 2012, representing a doubling over the previous year.
Both Tiivola and Tähtinen are concerned that this may represent just the tip of the iceberg in terms of youth homelessness. Tiivola said NFA counsels some of the city’s youth living with no place to call home.
"One third of people who come for housing counselling are young people, under 25. It has increased. And they're not on the street, so you can't see them, that's why it's a hidden problem. But they're coming for advice on how to get a home," she added
Tähtinen explained that it’s difficult for government officials and NGOs to get a handle on the numbers, specifically because the phenomenon is below the radar.
“In other words they live with their friends and bounce around from friend to friend and the homelessness that really exists among young people isn’t even visible,” the Deaconess housing director said.
Immigrants also without shelter
Homelessness is also becoming more prevalent among Finland’s immigrant communities. According to ARA, there were 1,500 homeless migrants in the country in 2012, representing nearly 20 percent of people with no fixed abode. The problem is especially a challenge in Helsinki.
“There are a lot of people coming from abroad. But you must be a resident of Helsinki to get help. We do what we can, we offer emergency help and now we will open a night café and we are of course open during the day,” Tiivola said of NFA's drop-in centre.
Both volunteer workers called for more affordable housing in the Helsinki region to combat the problem.
“There needs to be more social housing - more affordable housing, for example to ensure that young people don’t fall into the cycle of homelessness,” Tähtinen proposed.
Meanwhile the government’s 2015 budget proposal aims to increase the stock of affordable housing starting in 2015. The state has earmarked funding to support the production of 8,000 interest subsidy housing units in addition to state guarantee loans for 2,000 new rental units.
Funding has also been earmarked to assist with the construction of normal rental housing while new rental units production in the capital area will also be backed by government-guaranteed loans.
However none of this proposed new housing stock production is likely to come onstream in time to help the hundreds currently living out their lives with no fixed abode.