When campgrounds were closed to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Tasmania, Strike It Out Feeding the Homeless Launceston founder Kirsten Ritchie got a call.
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A homeless family with nowhere to go reached out.
"They'd went and spent all their money on a car and they were going to live in this car," Ms Ritchie said.
"I said 'with this virus and that we are meant to be social distancing'."
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Ms Ritchie and her organisation paid to put the family in temporary accommodation.
"We're just really fortunate that there was in place in town that could take them and was within their budget.
"If they were greedy or weren't giving us a good deal these people wouldn't have that opportunity."
More than one family have benefited from the organisation's support. Seven adults and three children now have accommodation.
"We've paid for quite a few of them initially because they didn't have money," Ms Ritchie said.
"I just couldn't have them out there."
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Thanks to the federal government's decision to increase financial support to welfare recipients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ms Ritchie said the people she helped put into accommodation would soon be able to start paying for their accommodation.
"When they're on the streets, a lot of them hang in groups. They're very vulnerable.
"A lot of them end up in hospital anyway with pneumonia during the winter period so the sooner we get them off the street, the sooner their immunity can build up as well and it just reduces the risk of them also contracting the coronavirus."
Ms Ritchie said it was in the best interests of every community member to not have people living on the streets.
"We all have a duty of care to reduce risk," she said.
"There's some that choose to still stay out. We're just lucky that other services are still operating as well."
All levels of government needed to do a better job communicating directly with homeless people about COVID-19 related changes, Ms Ritchie said.
"There's been no communication...I suppose it's just like everything else, just wait and see what changes are going to come out," she said.
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