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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology
Jon Henley in Helsinki

FORGOTTEN HISTORY: It s a miracle helsinki s radical solution to homelessness - Caught on Camera

A homeless woman sits outside downtown Helsinki central station in 2011.
A homeless woman sits outside downtown Helsinki central station in 2011. The city has since virtually eliminated rough sleeping. Photograph: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images

Tatu Ainesmaa turns 32 this summer, and for the first time in more than a decade he has a home he can truly say is his: an airy two-room apartment in a small, recently renovated block in a leafy suburb of Helsinki, with a view over birch trees.

“It’s a big miracle,” he says. “I’ve been in communes, but everyone was doing drugs and I’ve had to get out. I’ve been in bad relationships; same thing. I’ve been on my brother’s sofa. I’ve slept rough. I’ve never had my own place. This is huge for me.”

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