Vacancies at Tallinn homeless shelters rise after fee introduction
Autumn is almost over, but there are still vacancies at homeless shelters due to a slight fall in demand since a small fee was introduced for overnight stays, "Aktuaalne kaamera" reported.
One such shelter, in Suur-Sõjamäe in Tallinn, is both a day center and an overnight shelter, all under one roof. When the day center closes its doors at 7 p.m., visitors move upstairs to their rooms, while others come in in the evening from elsewhere, to sleep too.
One visitor, Sten, said: "This place has helped me a lot; I could get my documents sorted, and I can move forward in life. It has truly helped me out."
The Tallinn Social Work Center (Tallinna sotsiaaltöökeskus) operates two shelters in the capital, intended for people with a pressing need for a roof over their heads.
Accommodation units where people can stay for longer periods are also available; though these always required a small fee, the same principle is now being applied to the overnight shelters too.
Center director Kersti Põldemaa said the first two weeks of stay is free of charge.
After that, the fee is €3 per night per person.
Põldemaa said that the fee had to be introduced as many people had taken advantage of the shelter being free; since the introduction of the fee, around half of the shelter spots are empty, demonstrating that many of those staying there were not doing so out of dire need.
"This means these people have somewhere else to go," she said.
"There was simply a group of people who were exploiting the welfare system," Põldemaa added.
Põldemaa said that further analysis is needed to determine how many people in Tallinn actually need help, and what kind of assistance is required.
Over the past couple of decades, the make up of those seeking help from the social work center has changed. While in the early days it was mostly provided to those ready to return to regular life as soon as they were able to, nowadays, more of the shelter's guests have alcohol and/or drug dependency issues, or even mental health issues.
"So we now should analyze what these people, who are struggling with in their lives actually need – be it the specific form of help we currently offer in the city [or not]. Perhaps things need to be changed and developed," Põldemaa concluded.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Marko Tooming
Source: Anne Raiste
