Crisis accommodation offers a safe place to spend the night

In the crisis accommodation provided by Youth Shelters, we will help you if you are an adolescent or young adult and need support or a place to spend the night temporarily. You can seek help if you are a young person, a family member or other loved one of a young person, or a professional working with a young person.

Crisis accommodation may be necessary in situations such as the following:

• sudden crises such as conflicts with your family members, partner or other loved ones
• in the event of an urgent need for shelter and support or a safe place to stabilise your situation.

The crisis accommodation is provided by Youth Shelter workers who have a great deal of experience in supporting adolescents, young adults and families. Support is also available from the crisis accommodation volunteers.

Youth Shelters offer help free of charge. Crisis accommodation is available at five Youth Shelters.

What does crisis accommodation entail?

In crisis accommodation, we help you stabilise your life situation. We provide a safe place to spend the night and an environment where you can talk about your experiences and feelings. The aim of crisis accommodation is:

• to stabilise a life situation that has reached a crisis point
• to make it easier for you to adjust to your situation and make it through difficult life situations
• to help you find ways and means to return to your normal daily life.

In crisis accommodation, you are provided with a safe place to spend the night in either a private or shared room at a Youth Shelter. We take care of your basic needs, providing you with food and hygiene supplies as well as an opportunity to wash yourself or do laundry, for instance.

The accommodation is provided by on-duty Youth Shelter workers and volunteers. The volunteers are present, cook food for you and engage in daily activities, such as watching TV, with you.

In addition to accommodation, our workers offer discussion support for you, your family and other loved ones, or professionals working with you. In addition to accommodation, our workers offer discussion support for you and your family and other loved ones. Through discussion, we will seek to find solutions to your situation. We will also cooperate with any professionals that you may be working with.

Staying in Youth Shelter accommodation is voluntary. By staying at a Youth Shelter, you undertake to abstain from substance use and follow the shelter’s rules. That means that you are not allowed to come to a shelter while drunk, for instance.

How to get help

The shelters offering crisis accommodation are located in five different municipalities: Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Turku and Tampere. However, we also assist residents of other municipalities.

Crisis accommodation is available every day of the year between 17:00 and 10:00, and we also offer crisis assistance by phone during these hours. On weekdays, we respond to contact requests around the clock.

You can contact Youth Shelters by phone or via WhatsApp or e-mail. The contact information of the Youth Shelters is provided below. When you first contact us, we will discuss how we can best help you.

If you are under the age of 18, we will agree on the accommodation with your guardians. You can also contact us if you are a family member or other loved one of a young person, or a professional working with a young person, such as a welfare officer, teacher or social worker.

I’m grateful to have been given a place where I felt safe. I could tell someone what I’d been through, I was listened to, and no one judged me.