8 GROUNDCOVER NEWS HOUSING FINLAND from page 5 distributed public housing throughout the city in an effort to create areas with residents of mixed economic backgrounds. According to the Finnish government, the number of long-term homeless persons between 2008 and 2015 decreased by 35%. As of 2016, homelessness decreased for the first time to under 7,000 people (out of a population of 5.6 million people), and continued to decrease in the years after. (The Finnish government uses a definition of homelessness which includes living temporarily with family and friends.) The majority of homeless people live in Helsinki, Finland's largest city.” Granberg also referred to an article titled, “The End of Homelessness in Finland.” It was published in the Journal Cityscape in 2022. She said, “According to this paper, the number of shelter and hostel beds fell from 2,121 in 1985 to 52 in 2016. In the same time, supportive housing units grew from 127 to 1,309, and rental apartments for people formerly experiencing homelessness increased from 65 to 2,433.” In January 2024, representatives of Finland’s Y Foundation visited Ottawa, Canada. They were invited by the Ottawa Alliance to end homelessness. The Y Foundation CEO noted that street homelessness in Finland is almost non-existent, and that sheltered homeless people are less than 4,000. Conclusion Historians have informed us that America witnessed large-scale homelessness after the Civil War and the Reconstruction period of the 1870s. The promise of 40 acres and a mule was not available to all. Another period in our history when we witnessed large-scale homelessness was during the Great Depression. The current homelessness crisis touches every major city, and every region of the country. From 1937 to 1998, federal, state and local governments were partners in the construction and management of affordable housing. During the 1996 Presidential election campaigns, Senator Robert Dole, who was running against President Bill Clinton, condemned affordable housing construction as the “last bastion of socialism in America.” Earlier in the 1980s, the Reagan Administration called for tearing down high-rise low-income housing without providing HUD with the money for replacing the lost housing stock. The Faircloth Amendment of 1998 worsened the Federal government’s ability to end homelessness and supply adequate low-income housing. Both Finland and America are considered western democracies. Each nation has learned from the other in the past. Leaders of the Y Foundation in Finland said that housing first was tested by clinical psychologist Sam Tsembiri and his team in New York City during the 1980s. It was a success, and Finland copied that homeless solution. They implemented the housing first model and said goodbye to the Staircase Model. Finland has a national consensus on how to end homelessness and succeed in the war against poverty, the war against drug abuse and addiction, and how to provide the housing security necessary for durable mental health treatment. It is incumbent on the U.S. Conference of Mayors to embark on cross-national comparisons of homelessness solution models that are sound and effective. They can start with the miracle of Finland. When they then lobby the U.S. President and Congress, they would be in a better position to say, “We have examples of nations that have solved their homeless crisis. Let’s talk! Let’s take action!! Let’s make a change!!!” FEBRUARY 23, 2024 exp. 01/31/2025
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