Helsinki Deaconess Institute was founded in 1867 at the initiative of and with financial support from Aurora Karamzin, the wife of a colonel. Crop failure years, famine and epidemics went hand in hand, and the small 8-bed hospital was sorely needed. The model for this establishment was obtained from Germany where the first evangelical deaconess institute had been established in 1836 in the town of Kaiserswerth.

In accordance with the German model, this Finland’s first deaconess institute provided care for the sick and training for women to become deaconesses, assistance was given to poor, and homeless children were given shelter.

With the development of society, people’s basic welfare has improved, but new problems have replaced old ones. Today's challenges include alienation, problems resulting from increased alcohol consumption and drug addiction, and HIV and AIDS. The modest home run by sisters has in the space of 140 years evolved into a large group of companies, which has taken on as its particular tasks those of helping people at risk of becoming alienated and of standing up for the weakest members of society