Kuusk originally chose to experiment with living on the streets during his social work studies in 1999, in an effort to understand who the homeless are, how they live and what kind of help they need. Now, 26 years later, he repeated the experience.

"After a week on the street, I felt what it's like when no one depends on you and you don't depend on anyone," Kuusk said in an appearance on ETV's "Hommik Anuga" on Sunday. "It fosters a completely different sense of freedom."

Sander Kukk has experienced homelessness and has also spent time behind bars. Since then, he has turned his life around, and now works as head of the nonprofit Tänavatöö, helping homeless and impoverished people. He noted that people end up living on the streets for a variety of reasons.

"There are multiple aspects to it — it's the sum of certain choices in some people's lives," Kukk explained. "In my case, I just didn't feel like going to work; I didn't feel like doing anything. At one point, I realized I was on the street — I was living in a basement somewhere."

The nonprofit chief acknowledged that some homeless people feel the freedom Kuusk referred to — the feeling that he was free and didn't even want to return to conventional society.

"But the moment someone starts looking for a way out, their job skills are gone, they no longer have a social network and there's no one for them to turn to," he added.

One of the hardest parts Kukk remembers from his own time being homeless was the hunger.

"But there were good people back then too, and there are also good people today who help," he highlighted.

'None of us are immune'

Even so, it's not always possible to get everyone back on the right path, and for various reasons. Kukk noted that since Tänavatöö was launched in 2017, a total of 11 of their people have died.

"They've either been murdered or have frozen to death on the street," he acknowledged. "One man's heart just stopped. Those moments, when you've spent years together with people and they've become dear to you, and then someone comes and tells you they're gone — those are the absolute worst and most painful moments."

According to Kuusk, Estonian society's attitudes toward homeless people have improved over the past 26 years.

"In 1999, I felt contempt and fear while moving on the streets," the businessman recalled. "Now, that contempt and fear have given way to human understanding and warmth. The profile has changed too. In the late 90s, the average homeless person was a Russian-speaking man between the ages of 35 and 50. Now, that group has gotten more diverse. The new group is young men."

He admitted that he also tried out every imaginable way to get drunk, adding that the Troinoi cologne and shoe polish of the 90s has since been replaced by mint disinfectant.

"I think this experience has allowed me the opportunity to feel gratitude," Kuusk concluded. "If you see someone in distress somewhere, it isn't hard to go buy them a loaf of bread or lend them a helping hand. We never know if we might need that help ourselves tomorrow — none of us are immune to it. God has given us this love for our fellow human beings so that we may help them. Do something — don't just walk past someone who needs help."

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