Homeless women in Tampere struggle to find drug-free services

Anni Parikka washes her hair and applies make-up every day despite sleeping outdoors, Yle reports. She is one of more than 100 homeless women in Tampere, and says people who do not use intoxicants have few places to go.

Parikka was sitting with her suitcase and backpacks on a bench at the Ratina waterfront at 6am on a September morning, waiting for a shopping centre to open. She had spent the night sleeping under a bush and felt damp and uncomfortable.

Parikka is one of 468 homeless people in Tampere. According to figures from the Pirkanmaa wellbeing services county, more than 100 of them are women, and the number is continuing to rise.

She says she feels like an exception among homeless people because she does not use intoxicants. The wellbeing services county has examined the backgrounds of 200 homeless people, of whom about 10 per cent did not use intoxicants.

Yle is not showing Parikka’s face in photographs for her safety.

Homelessness linked to low income, rather than intoxicant use, is increasing in Finland. A recent University of Turku study found that intoxicant use among homeless people is less common than commonly believed.

In a count carried out last autumn, workers estimated how many homeless people had an addiction based on the information available to them. The figure was just under half, researcher Veera Niemi said.

Services focus on people who use intoxicants

Parikka lost her hairdressing business in the aftermath of the Covid years and was left with debts. She has been homeless for just over a year.

She also differs from many homeless people in other ways. She has two qualifications and does not receive benefits, saying that she wants to live “outside society”.

Parikka says she does not fit the usual image of a homeless person.

“When you do not use intoxicants, apart from food queues there is really nowhere to go to meet other people in the same situation. This is totally lonely,” she said.

At the time of the interview, Parikka said she had found a new community and enjoyable activities at Artteli, a community centre. Artteli’s more than 10 years of activity is guaranteed to continue only until the end of the year as funding from STEA decreases.

Niemi said the service system was not changing at the same pace as the profile of homeless people.

“At the moment, homeless services are offered primarily to people who use intoxicants or suffer from serious mental health disorders,” she said.

Jussi Lehtonen, service manager at the Housing Services for the Homeless association, said providing high-quality services to homeless people who do not use intoxicants would require separate services.

“The volume is not yet large enough to support entirely separate day centres for people who do not use intoxicants. It would also be difficult to verify that everyone entering was free from intoxicants,” he said.

Parikka has tried services intended for homeless people who use intoxicants. She spent two months at the Tastu emergency unit for homeless people in Hervanta, Tampere.

Because drugs are used there, Parikka said she felt like an outsider. The unpredictable behaviour of some people also frightened her, while their life stories saddened her.

The Pirkanmaa wellbeing services county recognises the problem and says that, for one reason or another, not everyone wants to use the emergency unit.

Tampere aims to establish a second emergency accommodation unit serving the whole of Pirkanmaa. In addition to more accommodation, it could offer more services for different groups of clients.

“I wash my hair and apply make-up every day”

Parikka’s usual day begins by looking for sanitary facilities. She washes there and changes into clean clothes every morning.

She carries as much of her belongings as she can manage. She is able to do her laundry once a week at an acquaintance’s home.

As the nights grow colder, she needs many layers of clothing.

“I have padded trousers, with three other layers of trousers underneath. I wear five shirts under my coat. A proper neck warmer and leather mittens on my hands,” she said.

Parikka does not have a sleeping bag or even a sleeping mat. At first, she slept directly on the ground.

After finding the seat of an abandoned chair, she made a sleeping mat from it and tree branches. She puts a rubbish bag underneath to prevent moisture from rising and a terry towel on top.