- In this place you can wash clothes, showers, maybe get help and advice in different ways. And the staff who are here then have contact paths towards the municipality's social services, says church pastor Mats Björk.

Not visible

Just because poverty and homelessness are not visible does not mean that it does not exist. The church and Piteå municipality will start an open community later this autumn where homeless and other vulnerable people can get help.

It is believed that this is better than a classic shelter that does not give the individual support to move on. In addition, according to the municipality and the parish, the extent of people who are urgently homeless is low.

"Shelter no long-term solution"

- From the social services we do not consider that a shelter is a long-term solution. We hope this will give way to a longer-term perspective. Visitors can get in touch with us if they wish and we can do an aid test to see what a person is entitled to, says Tomas Backeström, Head of Department at the Social Administration in Piteå.