Volunteers helping to set up the new Safe Space location with Program Leader, Hanna.
In August we announced that the Safe Space night program would be moving to a new home at the
former Congregational Church on Davey Street. This came after almost a year of searching for a
location that would suit the needs of the community members at Safe Space.
Safe Space provides shelter, safety and support for people sleeping rough in Hobart. Over 46% of
people at Safe Space have moved onto long term housing since the program launched in December
2019.
David has been attending safe space on an off for 18 months and hopes to one–day support other
people who have been and experiencing homelessness.
“Moving to the new location is the best thing that could’ve happened”, says David.
“There are showers there and it’s providing a roof over people’s heads”.
Daniel has also been using a safe space program on and off since it first opened.
“It’s been an absolute blessing”, says Daniel.
“I honestly don’t know where a lot of us would be without Safe Space. Many of the people here are
dealing with really serious trauma and that takes a variety of support. Safe space is the right
support”.
“The staff here are really patient, tolerant and understanding. It has a massive impact that the
people here are able to trust the space and the staff. There’s no judgement you can come in and
work through anything that you’ve got going on and staff will support you no matter what”.
Safe Space first launched as a six–month pilot program after a massive fundraising drive. The local
community raised over $300,000 in a matter of weeks to begin the trial. Since then, the state
government has expanded the program to a state–wide model, and committed to funding until June
2022. We thank you, our generous donors, for seeing the genuine need for this program and
supporting it to get it off the ground.
Since government funding has taken care of the day–to–day running costs of the program our donors
have continued to support community members at Safe Space through donations of bedding,
sleeping bags, clothing, food and other essentials.