Finland delegation brings new homeless housing ideas to Hawaiʻi

Nonprofits who have come to the conference say they've learned a lot. It's public funding that pays for housing the homeless in Finland. Housing is considered a fundamental right there.

“The Finland government guarantees the money developers need to build,” said Hope Services Hawaii CEO Brandee Menino.

The lower cost of the developers is then passed on to the renters or buyers.

“It's based on cost recovery principal. They pay rent in relations to the cost of building,” said Rasilainen.

If you are unemployed or financially struggling, that's helped out with as well.

“You can have a housing allowance. It depends on your income. It may be 80 percent of the housing,” said Rasilainen.

“People have been striving to improve the system to make it more efficient. It hasn't worked. In fact, things have gotten worse. So, instead of trying to improve the system, we need an entirely new system,” said Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice Executive Director Gavin Thornton.