Orana supervisor Stephen Hill in the common room.
The bobbing heads of cheerful, yellow sunflowers standing in a row symbolise the difference between Launceston's City Mission Frederick Street crisis centre and the new facility at Newnham.
There is room for the sunflowers at Newnham - and corn and tomatoes, a barbecue, and even a couple of clotheslines.
The homeless men, aged 18 years and over, who have found solace and support for many years at City Mission's headquarters on the corners of Frederick and Wellington streets will enter a new world of space and sunlight from tomorrow.
The crisis centre in Frederick Street will close and those men who either turn up themselves looking for help or are referred by Tasmania Police officers will instead be transported to a revamped Orana, in George Town Road.
``They won't know themselves - this is about keeping up with the times,'' said Orana supervisor Stephen Hill.
City Mission headquarters will stay at Frederick Street but the sobering facility and crisis accommodation will move from cramped, shared quarters to single rooms with ensuites and gardens outside the windows.
The new accommodation is a joint project between Housing Tasmania and the City Mission.
It will offer four crisis beds where residents can stay for up to six weeks.
These will be complemented by a dedicated overnight-only bed and two sobering-up beds for men in need of supervision while recovering from the effects of alcohol or other drugs.
Seven rooms with ensuites will be used for long-term supported accommodation for adults who can't find suitable alternative accommodation.
Four independent-living units are also available on-site for those who are ready for independent living, Mr Hill said.
``The beauty of this set-up is that they are still close to support - the facility is manned 24 hours a day,'' Mr Hill said.
``When you are dealing with mental health or drug dependency problems often the time when you want to talk to someone is 2am or 3am when you are restless and you don't have the issues of the day about you.''
Mr Hill said that City Mission turned away 65 people in crisis last month because the organisation did not have the means to support them.
``We had about 39 clients that we [were] able to accommodate,'' he said.
He said that the new centre would provide much more flexibility to take care of people.
It included plans for family crisis accommodation in the next few months.