Meet Lapinlahti people: Tiina and Hanna

Lapinlahden Lähde offers opportunities for different school internships. Occupational therapy students Tiina and Hanna did their internship there in spring 2020, and have since stayed doing voluntary work. They describe Lapinlahti as a place for the whole family, which holds value in that the park is open, wild-growing, and not too built. Both of them think there are no other places like this in the inner city, which is why preserving the area would be especially important.

In their internship at Lapinlahden Lähde, Tiina and Hanna managed an Instagram account called Toiminnan lähteellä.
“People should always pay attention to the balance between rest, free time, and work. This was especially highlighted when people worked from home because of the coronavirus. Through Instagram, we were able to give people things to do and different kinds of wellbeing tips for surviving the everyday life, as well as positive mental health.”

“Lapinlahti as a place is receptive, and it’s easy to get swept up with it yourself. For example, you can come to volunteer, and nobody asks too much about your background.”

Tiina and Hanna see the value of the place especially through their future professions. Even now Café Lähde offers work for people in psychiatric rehabilitation and work trials, but there is opportunity to offer more than that. In the future Lapinlahden Lähde could offer even more varied and diverse opportunities for work trials and employment.

They note that politicians often want everything to be quantifiable. There are a lot of participants in Lapinlahden Lähde whose wellbeing is supported by the place and activities – it’s just not easy to measure it precisely.

The activities in the café are only a part of how the activities at Lapinlahti support wellbeing and provide strength. The place is immeasurably important to people in psychiatric rehabilitation, and others as well.
“When discussing the future of this place, we must also consider future generations and what people need to thrive in a rapidly growing urban area.”