Launceston City Mission to accommodate homeless

Thanks to a cash injection from the Tasmanian government, Launceston City Mission will soon begin offering dormitory style overnight accommodation to homeless people.

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City Mission chief executive Stephen Brown said the organisation's chapel building on Frederick Street and the building where youth engagement program The Mish is run, would be used to accommodate people who were homeless.

"Morton's Place will be used for the day accommodation and that is the easiest option for us to get the program operating very quickly, which is a big requirement of Housing Tas - they wanted it to be open as soon as possible," Mr Brown said.

"We've got existing facilities here with showers and the laundry and a functioning kitchen, security, heating and all those things that make for comfortable accommodation."

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The additional accommodation will be offered as part of a statewide expansion of the Safe Night Space program which previously operated exclusively in Hobart.

"We're the lead agency for Launceston, we'll be working together with the Salvation Army and other service providers," Mr Brown said.

"The other service providers will come here and meet with the various rough sleepers and the homeless and see if we can get them to engage with the services they need by bringing the services here."

"It'll be like a gathering point for other services like Housing Connect, the Salvation Army street workers, just any of the services."

Mr Brown said groups who use City Mission buildings for existing services would not be disadvantaged when the new accommodation is introduced.

Housing Minister Roger Jaensch said the extra funding was offered to support vulnerable people during the COVID-19 pandemic.