Dear volunteer, participant, member,

We are currently going through difficult times at Familia. Our funding for next year is uncertain, as STEA grants will be cut by more than 80 million in 2027, which is a third less than this year. In 2026, about 80% of all our funding comes from STEA. As you may have already seen on our social media, we have had to prepare for a possible reduction or, in the worst case, even the end of funding by laying off all our permanent employees. Our operations are truly at risk.

These decisions have been very difficult and I understand that this will cause uncertainty and confusion for those of you who are part of our community in different ways. If we had not prepared for the future, in the worst case scenario the association would have been bankrupt and we were not ready for that. We wanted to secure the future of Familia so that we could continue our activities for intercultural families in one way or another. In what way and to what extent, we will only find out around the new year.

​So we are living in huge uncertainty this autumn. However, this does not mean that Familia will not be there next year. Even if there will be a difficult year or two ahead, our intention is to find ways to secure the support and services we offer to intercultural families next year as well. We are trying to continue volunteering and peer activities in one way or another. However, we cannot do this alone, we need all of you next year too!

I want to tell you all that now is not the time to give up or despair! It can be sad and worrying, we are experiencing these feelings too. The most important thing for us is that Familia can continue to fulfill its mission next year, which is to support the well-being of intercultural families. It may require everything to be more volunteer-driven for a while, but that's how we started in 1988. We don't know.

We will continue our operations almost normally through the fall of 2026 and are preparing for 2027 with various options. We will keep you updated when we know more. I want to thank you for being our volunteer, member, or participant! Without you, there would be no us.


We will be collecting feedback from our volunteers, participants and members about our activities and their significance in early autumn. I hope that you will respond to this survey in large numbers. We will highlight these issues in our communications and advocacy work. If you want to support us in this work, you can join us, become a volunteer, tell decision-makers about the importance and significance of our activities and write opinion pieces on the matter. Now is not the time to be silent either!

Kind regards,
Elina Helmanen
Familia Executive Director