“It definitely broke down a lot of assumptions I had about homelessness and about how prevalent it is, as it’s something we don’t see a lot of,” she said.

“I think homelessness is something that can happen to anyone from all walks of life.

‘‘Homelessness can be a lot of things, not necessarily sleeping on the streets. It could be someone sleeping in their car who has a job during the day but no home to go to. It could be someone who doesn’t feel they can go home, spending lots of time at other people’s houses.”

Safe Shelter is a volunteer-based program providing homeless men with a temporary place to sleep during Canberra’s coolest months.

Last year’s pilot program transformed St Columba’s Uniting Church into a safe, warm shelter one night a week.

Safe Shelter returns to the Braddon church this week and will run every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night until October 2.

Despite Canberra’s socioeconomic status, more than 1780 people in the ACT are homeless, according to the latest ABS statistics.

Ms Booker had always hoped to help those without a home and signed up to Safe Shelter after moving to Canberra early last year.

“It sounded like such a great program and an opportunity to use resources already available for a different purpose,” she said.

“Being new to Canberra it was a good way to be involved in the community.”

Trained volunteers committed to staffing the shelter one night a month.

The role involved setting up the space, providing guests with tea or coffee before lights out at 10pm, sleeping on the floor overnight and packing everything up again early the next morning.

“With the guests coming in, it was about breaking down barriers about homelessness. It’s speaking to individuals on an individual basis – having a cup of tea, maybe watching a bit of TV,” Ms Booker said.

“One of the really good things was meeting other volunteers.

‘‘It’s been really good to be involved in a pilot program ... the volunteers have been very involved in the process of providing feedback and thinking about how we can do it better.”

Ms Booker, who also works fulltime, said Safe Shelter was an ideal platform for people who were busy but still wanted to lend a hand.

She encouraged anyone interested in the program to attend training next month to find out more about the program.

“You don’t have to sign up, you can make a decision after,” she said.

“It’s not too demanding. One night’s sleep during the week on the floor is OK – you still get a pretty good sleep.”