Get to know an NGO: Fenix Finland ry helps immigrants get a new beginning
Fenix Finland ry arose from an acute need and quickly found its place in the field. The organisation offers discussion support through volunteer mental health professionals, supporting both the person being helped as well as the helper on their way to integration.
Find someone to talk to – fast and in your language
Many people might have a traumatic reason behind their immigration. With all the bureaucracy, immigrating somewhere new is stressful for anyone, let alone for someone who is still actively trying to process difficult experiences.
‘Finding someone to talk to can be really difficult. People who are in the same situation are feeling just as lost as you, and in order to talk to a Finnish person, you would first need to explain hours and hours of political background and conflicts in a language that you find difficult to speak,’ says Tanja Fomina, a founding member of Fenix Finland ry.
This is precisely why Fenix Finland exists. The organisation offers discussion help and group activities for immigrants at a low threshold. The volunteer helpers are mental health professionals who also come from an immigrant background. It is key for the operating model that the helpers themselves are immigrants: talking with someone from a similar background feels safer in your own language and creates a feeling of mutual understanding and trust.
Fenix Finland ry came about quickly – it didn’t even become a registered organisation until later. After the war started in Ukraine in 2022, it was essential to help those who needed it - and fast. The demand for support was huge during the campaign launched to offer discussion help, which led to establishing the organisation. Over the course of four years, a group of five volunteers has grown to over forty people.
Integration and sense of community for everyone
The key ingredients of the support activities are cultural sensitivity, offering help in everyone’s emotional language, and volunteer helpers from immigrant backgrounds. Fenix Finland ry came up with this operating model, and even the founders have been surprised by how fruitful it has proven.
The original idea was to help people who needed someone to talk to. And that’s exactly what the organisation has done. Talking with other immigrants helps see the light at the end of the tunnel, recognise the opportunities of a new beginning, and accept challenges.
‘When you can talk with other immigrants, you stop dwelling on your own situation and instead start looking for solutions,’ Fomina says.
Many people also feel that simply having the option to receive discussion help for free is therapeutic.
It has been surprising to see how much the helpers themselves have benefitted from helping others. Volunteering and being a part of a network of helpers give the volunteers a huge sense of meaning, and being able to practice your own profession in Finland is a great way to help with integration.
‘Working in your own profession strengthens your positive identity as an expert in the field and gives you the chance to network with other professionals,’ Fomina explains.
NGO work still holds huge potential
Fenix Finland was born out of an acute need, but the demand for it and the benefits it offers have not changed at all since the organisation’s establishment. As a result of the recent budget cuts targeting organisations, the future of Fenix Finland is also at stake. The volunteers are happy to keep providing discussion help, but an operation of this size also needs professional organisation.
What message does the organisation want to send to all residents of Espoo during these difficult times?
‘I hope that our example can make as many people as possible realise how determined cooperation can help us achieve great things. Through motivated volunteers, our organisation has grown quickly from a makeshift campaign to something that has improved the lives of thousands of people. All of us have strength in us,’ Fomina says.
Fenix is not going to give up so easily.