Helsinki – Helsingin Diakonissalaitos

The Helsinki Deaconess Institute, founded in 1867, is a non-profit foundation boldly working to uphold human dignity. We provide help to people at risk of social exclusion. Together with our subsidiary Diakonissalaitoksen Hoiva Ltd, we produce effective social welfare and health services that help improve the day-to-day lives of our clients. The aim of our work is to ensure that everyone has the chance of a dignified life.

We specialise in providing services for groups in society faced with severe problems, and we produce these jointly with our clients and partners. Civic activity is a strong feature of all our operations. We want to facilitate people’s communal involvement and creativity regardless of their situation in life.

We provide wide-ranging services for children, young people and families, substance abusers and homeless people. Older people benefit from our services at home, in sheltered homes, and nursing homes. The services offered to immigrants and refugees vary from training and integration into society, to rehabilitation for victims of torture, while the day centre for mobile EU citizens serves mainly Roma people. Undocumented people are assisted by outreach work and a day centre and we realise our global responsibility by carrying out development cooperation work in southern Africa and in the wider European area. Our retreat centre offers a space for silence and spiritual contemplation in the tradition of Christian retreats.

There are nearly a thousand people working in our social enterprise group, as well as two thousand volunteers. The proceeds of our work and assets enable us to carry out our key mission – to work for a human dignity.