Queen of the Station_ Vailla Vakinaista Asuntoa in Helsinki
- last year
hey call her "Queen of the Train Station." Sari has been homeless in Helsinki for ten years, but she prefers the term "vailla vakinaista asuntoa," which means without a permanent home.
When watching this video, please understand that there is a huge culture and communication difference. Sari may not have understood our questions, and we could easily have misunderstood her responses. For example, when Sari talks about hotels, it's very similar to in America when homeless people receive their benefits and then pay for a stay in a hotel for a few days to rest and clean up. I would not have known this unless someone we were with informed me.
The main reason we are posting Sari's video is that she is a wonderful person, and she has a YouTube channel, and we hope many of you will follow and encourage her https://www.youtube.com/@Saxpi7/videos
Humans are complicated. Sari will go inside when she wants to. Right now, she has created a community at the train station. People know her. Sari feels comfortable. For her, that's all that matters. We spent some time with her, and she seemed happy.
We often forget how much community and identity play a role. This train station has become Sari's home. For her, this train station provides a purpose, whereas in an apartment, she may not have that, or she is afraid of losing what she has. Finland is working on Housing First 2.0 to help people like Sari and get more people inside.
Sari, when you see this, I wanted to use "vailla vakinaista asuntoa" in the title. It was an honor to meet you. You were the highlight of our visit to Finland. Update - I added it to the title - we will see if people find it :)
When watching this video, please understand that there is a huge culture and communication difference. Sari may not have understood our questions, and we could easily have misunderstood her responses. For example, when Sari talks about hotels, it's very similar to in America when homeless people receive their benefits and then pay for a stay in a hotel for a few days to rest and clean up. I would not have known this unless someone we were with informed me.
The main reason we are posting Sari's video is that she is a wonderful person, and she has a YouTube channel, and we hope many of you will follow and encourage her https://www.youtube.com/@Saxpi7/videos
Humans are complicated. Sari will go inside when she wants to. Right now, she has created a community at the train station. People know her. Sari feels comfortable. For her, that's all that matters. We spent some time with her, and she seemed happy.
We often forget how much community and identity play a role. This train station has become Sari's home. For her, this train station provides a purpose, whereas in an apartment, she may not have that, or she is afraid of losing what she has. Finland is working on Housing First 2.0 to help people like Sari and get more people inside.
Sari, when you see this, I wanted to use "vailla vakinaista asuntoa" in the title. It was an honor to meet you. You were the highlight of our visit to Finland. Update - I added it to the title - we will see if people find it :)