Every night, 365 days of the year, it is operating at 100 to 120 per cent of its 12-bed capacity.

While co-ordinator Rollo Brett says homelessness figures quoted for the ACT are often on the rubbery side – the 2000 estimated in recent census results were higher than he expected – arguments over numbers are irrelevant.

The real issues are that there are many more homeless people in Canberra than there are beds, and this situation has got worse rather than better.

The bureaucratisation of access to services such as Samaritan House has not helped either. It is now easier for a homeless man to slip through the cracks than it was when all he had to do was ring the doorbell.

"There are people who just aren't able to manage the 'first point' system," Mr Brett said. "This requires individuals to ring an 1800 number before they can be referred to us. That number can be busy, meaning they will be asked to call back later. There are a number of assumptions here. Does the person have a phone? If they do, does it have credit on it? Does it have charge? Factors such as these militate against the poorest of the poor."

Such problems are compounded by the fact that many of Samaritan House's guests are battling alcoholism, drug abuse or mental illness, and sometimes all three.

The use of the word "guest" is not ironic. It is part of Samaritan House's core ethos and a direct legacy from the founder of St Vincent de Paul, Frederic Ozanam, who advocated support without judgement.

When Fairfax visited Samaritan House at the invitation of Christopher Prowse, the Catholic Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn, on Wednesday, that ethos was very much in evidence.

Of the 20 meals the Archbishop helped to prepare, 16 were eaten by guests and volunteers sitting side-by-side at a long table near the kitchen. It could have been a refectory or common room at a mine or an oil rig. There was little, if anything, to indicate who was a volunteer and who was a guest.

While some of the homeless were from Africa and Asia, the majority appeared to be Australian-born. A common element in all their stories is alcohol abuse.

"Our guests are all individuals," Mr Brett said. "They have come here on different roads and from all parts of the world. They are good men who, in some cases, have made bad choices and may have done bad things."

Samaritan House's clients can stay up to three weeks while permanent accommodation is being found or longer if circumstances warrant it. Mr Brett said because many of the clients lived on society's margins, they were vulnerable.

"We have one (recent guest) in a critical condition in hospital at the moment," he said. "Another two would be in life-threatening situations if they were exposed to alcohol."

Mr Brett said 12 beds was a nearly perfect size for the hostel.

"It is enough to give us a community that is self-supporting in many ways," he said. "People help heal each other and if someone new comes in they can find someone to talk to who has been through what they are going through."

While Samaritan House is supported by government funding, the payments are only sufficient for very basic services.

"There is a significant top-up by St Vincent de Paul to ensure there is an adequate standard of care and to help guests transition into permanent accommodation of their own," Mr Brett said.