Problems are easier to solve when people have their own homes. This is the basis of the new program In Finland where Housing First is the national policy. This policy has already led to success there. Finland is the only European country where the number of homeless people has not increased in recent years.
Bankruptcy policy
The government has not yet been able to find a successful approach. Millions of people have been pumped into homeless programs for years, but the number of homeless people is not decreasing.
According to official figures, that number is 32,000 homeless, but civil society organizations cite figures of around 100,000 against RTL Nieuws. The Salvation Army sounded the alarm earlier this week: the humanitarian organization sees a worrying increase among young people.
Big worries
“It’s very disturbing what we hear,” says Maarten van Ooijen, state secretary for health, welfare and sport. That’s why he no longer wants the homeless to go to social shelters, but to provide them with a home.
What does Van Ooijen want to achieve? “From now on, every year a decrease in the number of homeless.” The cabinet also has a target: no more homelessness in 2030.
Empty promise
Sound like yet another empty promise? Van Ooijen calls this approach “really different”: “Because we will invest for years. We will now engage structurally in this issue with all municipalities for years to come,” says the state secretary. “The solution is accommodation. No longer a stretcher in the shelter, but one’s own home or studio. From there people receive help and can regain their place in society”.
It is feasible? There is already a screaming housing shortage of over 300,000 homes. “We will build hundreds of thousands of homes over the next few years. We only need a small percentage, about 2%, for the homeless.”
The now 52-year-old Saskia has been wandering around the Amsterdam Bijlmer for years. From garage to garage and from vacant apartments to bicycle sheds. “He Was tiring, even alone. You never had peace. You always had to think: where am I going today. And you were surrounded by the wrong people who were also addicted”.
Through a friend she came into contact with the Housing First homeless project. Her her her salvation, she describes her further on: at home on the couch of her rented house. “She saved my life,” she says. Getting the key to her house “was the best thing that could have happened to her.” “From here I can take back my life. I finally had a foundation. Your life will have a purpose again.”
His rescue
Saskia calls this project her salvation. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have been here,” she says firmly. The day she received the key, after years of wandering the streets, is one of the happiest of her life. She’s not big and she pays the rent, but she’s super proud of her “little temple” of hers.
Time may be behind her, but she hasn’t put the period behind her yet. “When I think back to that period, I feel sorry above all. Because I wasted so many years. I would like to recover that time, but I notice that my body doesn’t always want more. But I’m still full of plans”.
