Tallinn Counts Homeless
Tallinn's press service announced today that the city is conducting a census for its homeless population.
Surveying began in September and the program director expected to finish the majority of the work by the end of this month.
Census workers will sweep street hangouts, soup kitchens and shelters. At the end of the year, the city's Social Work Center will get extra information regarding illegal camping sites from police authorities, as well as from the national statistics bureau.
“I believe that the collected information can help us work out a appropriate proposals for the mitigation of homelessness in Tallinn,“ said Kersti Põldemaa, director of Tallinn Social Work Center. For one, the data will help understand the various reasons for homelessness and classify homeless citizens into groups, Põldemaa said.
Last year, the EU's regional committee adopted a new strategy for reducing homelessness, calling for all member to bring the number of people living on the streets down to zero by 2015.
Ott Tammik