Our Work
HelsinkiMissio volunteers and professionals support and help young people, adults, families and seniors in many ways. Our volunteer activities offer a variety of ways to get involved, to help people, to make a difference. All the assistance we give is confidential and free of charge.
We at HelsinkiMissio work to ensure that no one is left feeling lonely. Our skilled employees, committed volunteers, and those who support our work – private donors, companies, foundations – make our work possible.
Young People
For young people aged 12–29, adults, couples and the families of young people, our Crisis Services for Youth offer someone to talk to. With a professional helper a young person can talk about anything that is important or stressful to them.
Young people can also be introduced to a voluntary support person, a trustworthy adult with whom a young person can spend time and have confidential conversations.
Peer support is offered in professionally led I’m Enough groups, which strive to strengthen the self-esteem of young people. Our I’m Enough self-help guide also aims to strengthen self-esteem. It is available for free on our website (currently only available in Finnish and Swedish).
Our work to alleviate loneliness is a research-based programme, which includes five conversation sessions with a professional helper as well as assignments done independently from a book. The programme is designed for people of 18 and over.
Families
A volunteer family mentor provides support for families in their daily life. Loneliness, exhaustion, feeling inadequate or in need of help when raising children are familiar situations where the support of a volunteer can be helpful.
Volunteer support people called Perhekaveri help families who attend the New Children’s Hospital in Helsinki by making their hospital visit go as smoothly as possible. A support person brings a sense of normalcy to a hospital visit.
Albert’s Living Room is a cosy meeting place and community for families with children and seniors in the heart of Helsinki.
At the Kamppi Family Centre’s Neuvolaparkki our volunteers are there for families with children.
Families are also offered short-term conversation support with an employee trained in crisis work and counselling. This service welcomes individuals, couples and families.
Adults
Our work to eliminate loneliness is a new way of helping people by encouraging them to find their own way out of feeling lonely. The process entails five conversation sessions with a professional helper as well as working independently with a book of assignments to be done between meetings. The programme is intended for people aged 18 and over.
Aggredi is a treatment method that focuses on violence outside the home. Aggredi offers a way to deal with problems that arise from violent acts on neutral ground. The process aims to reduce or eliminate violent behaviour.
Seniors
The Senioripysäkki conversation groups relieve and prevent loneliness among the over 65s along with the psychosocial problems it can cause. The Senioripysäkki model as created by HelsinkiMissio is unique in Finland.
Aamukorva is a phone service by which volunteers answer calls every morning of the year from 5 to 8 a.m. The conversations help to alleviate feelings of loneliness among seniors.
One-off Help, sometimes called Help Gigs, provide volunteers to help out in daily life and problem situations for seniors in the Helsinki Metropolitan area.
A volunteer support person meets a senior perhaps twice a week over a hot drink or to go for a walk. These meetings not only alleviate loneliness but also provide a pleasurable encounter for both the recipient and the help-giver.
Albert’s Living Room is a cosy meeting place for families with children and seniors in the heart of Helsinki.
Volunteer-led group activities are arranged in various places in the greater Helsinki area. The groups get together to exercise, stretch themselves or simply to talk. The most important thing is spending time together in a pleasant atmosphere.
Our Community Services arrange events that alleviate loneliness. Among them are our popular Laula kanssamme (Sing with us) singalongs. There are also Minun kirjani (My Book) events, various concerts and musical entertainments that enliven a sense of community and togetherness.
The service centre Cecilia in Vuosaari offers seniors a safe assisted home, company and varied leisure activities, all under the same roof.
Resonaari Music Centre
For people with developmental issues and other special-needs learners, learning to play a musical instrument can be a life-changing experience. It gives them renewed confidence in their own abilities, fosters self-esteem and helps them to be part of society. At Resonaari, special-needs children, young people and adults learn to play and share the joy of music. At the same time, they become members of a community where nobody is overlooked or left feeling all alone.
Work to Belong
Work to Belong is the world’s first programme and responsibility certification to alleviate loneliness in the workplace. The programme helps work communities to identify and alleviate any sense of isolation people may be feeling at work.
School to Belong
The School to Belong programme works with children and youths who may be feeling lonely. The programme engages the entire school community in identifying and alleviating loneliness.
Volunteering
Volunteers have a variety of opportunities to take part in whatever activities suit them, perhaps through one-off helping, the Aamukorva phone service, as a Perhekaveri family helper, as support people, family mentors, group leaders, or at Albert’s Living Room. Our activities improve the well-being both of those who help and those who are helped.