Reykjavík Grapevine - 14.10.2018, Blaðsíða 14

14 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 14— 2018
A difficult housing situation has led to
a reported increase from 179 homeless
people in Reykjavík in 2012, to 349 in
2017; an increase of over 90% in just
five years. City Council now faces the
difficult task of meeting the needs
of the people affected by the housing
shortage, with autumn just around the
corner.
Several special sessions of the coun-
cil have been held in the past few weeks
to address the issue, with the most
recent one taking place August 1st. The
meeting was called for by the council’s
opposition parties, who feel that not
enough is being done about the matter.
“The number of homeless people
is constantly growing, but the most
recent numbers are only from 2017,“
says Vigdís Hauksdóttir, of the opposi-
tion Centre Party. “There needs to be a
new report with current
numbers.”
There will be another
meeting on August
10th, but Vigdís and her
peers fear that this will
already be too late. “We
are trying to wake up
the city council, because
time is running out, and
it is absolutely necessary
to fix this matter before
the winter comes,” she
says.
The short-term goal
is that everyone should
have a roof over their
head by September.
“Once we have fixed that, we can build
social homes and new houses as a long-
term solution,” she explains.
Too few, too expensive
Vigdís says that one cause of the rise
in homelessness is Iceland’s financial
crash of 2008. “Many people lost their
jobs and their homes,” she explains.
“Very few houses have been built in
the last ten years, which is why they’re
so expensive now. A lot of people are
homeless because they can’t afford an
apartment.” Vigdís explains that a new
apartment costs about 50 million ISK,
which she says “is absolutely crazy.”
“We need to build at least 8,000 to
10,000 apartments within the next five
years.” To Vigdís, this is an entirely new
situation for Reykjavík. “I can’t remem-
ber a similar housing situation,” she
says.
Inclusion instead of
exclusion
Þórdís Lóa Þórhallsdóttir, of the Reform
Party, which is currently running the
city council together with
the Pirates, the Left Green
and the Social Democratic
Alliance, has a slightly
different perspective on
the whole situation. “The
opposition parties have
been leading this discus-
sion so far, but they have a
very narrow view,” she says.
“I don’t agree that the city
council isn’t doing enough.”
Jóna Guðný Eyjólfsdóttir,
department manager at the
Department for Welfare
adds that, “According to
financial plans, we will
spend around 600 million
ISK for homeless people this year, so
the city of Reykjavík is doing quite a bit.”
Þórdís Lóa explains that the oppo-
sition wanted to start the discussion
earlier than the planned meeting in
August. “I think we had a good discus-
sion and they received a lot of informa-
tion,” she states. “Furthermore, there
will be a meeting within the Welfare
Council featuring 20 to 40 associations
that are working with in that area.”
For Þórdís Lóa and her party, the
emphasis should always lie on “samráð,”
or including everyone—particularly
those affected—in the discussion. “We
don’t want to do anything without talk-
ing to the people who are being talked
about,” she emphasises. “Reykjavík
should be a city for everybody.” One of
the main problems, she says, is that
homeless people are a very diverse
group, with differing needs.
Changing demographics
In the last meeting, the council and
the opposition agreed on some short-
term solutions, such as identifying five
areas in Reykjavík where the city can
provide accommodation for the home-
less, providing housing for 25 people. A
more long-term goal would be to work
on the problems that lie behind home-
lessness, such as addiction and mental
health issues.
According to Þórdís Lóa, the other
big group affected by homelessness are
elderly people. “They have completely
different needs, of course,” she says.
They might need medical care and phys-
ical therapy, as they might have been
homeless for a long time. “We’re talking
to the Ministry of Health,” Þórdís Lóa
says, “to check if nursing homes are
ready for this group of people.”
Housing crisis
Þórdís Lóa agrees with Vigdís that the
housing situation in Reykjavík is a prob-
lem. “We need to loosen the restrictions
on renting, and build more houses for
those seeking long-term accommoda-
tion in Reykjavík,” she says, “That’s not
just the homeless.”
Þórdís Lóa says that they need to
think about the first step of Maslow’s
Pyramid of Needs, but that’s not
enough. “We need to think one step
further,” she says. “We have a halfway
house, for instance, a place where
people can get support to be reintro-
duced into society.”
Women’s shelter
One place where people—specifically,
women—can seek shelter for the night
is the Red Cross’ Konukot. Marín Þórs-
dóttir, director of the Reykjavík branch,
says that more women than ever are
coming to Konukot. “The group’s diver-
sity is also greater than ever before, and
they are staying longer,” she says. Most
women who seek help at Konukot have
either drug or alcohol addiction, social
or mental health issues, or are foreign
women who have lost their jobs and
housing.
Konukot opened in 2004 and Marín
says that before that, people didn’t
really think there were homeless
women. “They are more vulnerable to
physical and sexual violence, and some
use their bodies for money, which can
be dangerous,” she says.
The main problem that Konukot
faces at the moment, however, is that
many women come to the shelter for
periods of months or even years. “It
would be good to have resources for
people who need long term accommo-
dation, so we can use the shelter for
its intended purpose,” Marín says. The
shelter, which is financed by the the
City of Reykjavík, opens at 17:00 and
provides women with a light dinner, a
bed, breakfast and support provided by
professionals and volunteers. In May
and June, 35 and 41 women, respectively,
slept in one of the twelve beds at Konu-
kot, including 27 women who had not
visited in previous years. Marín empha-
sises that long-term thinking is needed.
“This is not a sprint,” she says. “This is
a marathon. So we can’t think of only
short-term solutions. We need to be
able to think beyond the next night.”
No job, no apartment
One of the women using Konukot’s
services is a 56-year old Dutch citi-
zen who came to Iceland in 2016. Four
months ago, however, she was fired
from her job as a cleaning lady, and she
has been spending her nights at Konu-
kot ever since. “Here, we get good food
and beds and the people are fantastic,”
she says about the shelter, adding, “I’m
looking for a job because I don’t want
to depend on government benefits too
much.” Some people have promised to
give her work soon, so she hopes that
will happen. “I just want to work and
earn money,” she says.
For people like her, there are
currently no other options than think-
ing about where to spend the next
night, while city council continues to
discuss possible solutions.
Thinking Beyond
The Next Night
Reykjavík tackles the challenge of homelessness
“We need
to build at
least 8,000
to 10,000
apartments
within the
next five
years to
soothe the
problem.”
The Konukot homeless shelter has seen a rising tide of clients
Marin Þórsdóttir
Words:
Noemi Ehrat
Photos:
Art Bicnick