• 💡 Finland has developed a unique strategy to get homeless people off the streets and completely eradicate homelessness by 2027.
• 💡 Finland's approach is called "housing first", which provides permanent housing from the beginning to any homeless person who asks for it without strict conditions.
• 💡 The state provides small individual apartments in centers for homeless people with a team of social workers who support them with everything from bureaucracy to addiction or mental health treatments.
• 💡 The traditional approach to homelessness is not very effective as it expects the homeless person to gradually move up through different levels such as quitting drugs or managing serious mental health issues before accessing permanent housing.
• 💡 Finland's approach is focused on providing a safe and controlled environment for homeless people where they can slowly reintegrate back into society.
• 💡 Finland's policy is criticized for only hiding the problem of homelessness by putting everyone in government-paid housing rather than reintegrating them into society. However, the Finnish model is already considered successful when homeless

http://123homefree.org/

Aaron Fletcher has grazed his sheep and lived off the land as a traveling shepherd for 12 years. He calls it guerrilla grazing (a step above guerrilla gardening, he says) and he lets his sheep graze - with permission- public parks and side lots. Homeless by choice, he offers his services to small farms in exchange for food or a place to stay (though half his calories come from his sheeps’ milk).

With a tiny metal cart home pulled by his sheep he has a bed, a refrigerator/evaporative cooler, a shower (he uses a pesticide sprayer to pump up the water pressure), power (solar panel), sun oven, a mailbox stove for heat, bicycle tire wheels and a corrugated plastic roof.

Fletcher makes cheese and butter from his sheep milk and forages for seeds, fruits, vegetables and herbs. He’s created a map for foragers in his region. He makes some money with his scythe business - cutting noxious weeds for locals -, but he insists he’s not interested in making money and just hopes to serve as an example for other homeless interested in guerrilla grazing.

Carey Fuller

https://aptnnews.ca/2013/05/15/first-nations-woman-killed-by-train-in-toronto-was-a-witness-in-murder-trial/

Brutally honest words from a 21 year old man after only a couple weeks homeless. He left his living situation w/ his father because his father is an alcoholic and he felt more safe on the streets than in his father's house. He's suicidal, desperate...breaks your heart.

Short but surprisingly powerful little piece describing how even mentally ill people can have functional ability quite separate from their mental illness. They can organize a household, shop, and function "normally" while carrying some devastating mental or emotional challenges.