Webinar: “Housing First” Requires Housing First!
November 4, 2025
In November 2025, SHHR hosted a webinar with Juha Kahila, the Head of International Affairs for Y-Säätiö (The Y-Foundation), the largest non-profit owner of state-subsidized rental housing in Finland. Juha described how Finland’s sustained efforts have resulted in low-rates of homelessness and why continued state investment in social housing is essential.
Finland’s Housing First approach has resulted in an 81% reduction in homelessness since 1985, exemplifying the necessity of expanding social housing to ensure a future where everyone has a safe and affordable place to call home.
Webinar: Housing First Requires Housing First!
Please find the recording, transcript and slides from the webinar.
Juha Kahila is the Head of International Affairs at the Y-Foundation (Y-Säätiö) Finland’s largest NGO providing housing for people experiencing homelessness and affordable homes for low-income households — with a housing stock of more than 19,000 apartments across the country.
A passionate advocate for housing as a human right, Juha leads international collaboration through his roles as Coordinator of the Nordic Homelessness Alliance and facilitator within the Housing First Europe Hub, connecting practitioners, policymakers, and researchers across Europe to advance Housing First and prevention-based solutions.
Before taking on international work, Juha led Finland’s National Housing First Development Network, bringing together all major actors in homelessness policy and practice. His career has spanned every level of the field — from front-line support work to service management and CEO roles in Housing First organizations — giving him a rare, comprehensive view of what it takes to end homelessness in practice.
He holds a Master’s degree in social services and continues to be driven by a simple belief: no one should be without a home in a society that works.