Safe Shelter co-ordinator Richard Griffiths said the pilot program at St Columba's Uniting Church in Braddon had been a success, even though only nine men had slept at the hall when it opened on Wednesday nights between May 15 and September 26.

Mr Griffiths said some volunteers were disappointed the hall was not utilised more often, but that reflected the complex nature of homelessness. Some homeless people might not want shelter, he said, while others couch-surfed with friends or slept in their cars.

He said others suddenly found themselves with nowhere to go.

''We found it was more useful for emergency, short-term accommodation, for somebody who was looking for accommodation that night,'' he said.

Mr Griffiths said the church had offered the use of its hall for three nights a week next winter and Safe Shelter, which this year trained 36 volunteers, would seek more people to man the shelter.

Other inner-city churches would be invited to get involved, he said, by opening up their own halls, volunteering or helping with the project's management.

''If there were seven halls open during the week, one night very week, I think you'd find it would be accepted it was going to be available and more people would turn up,'' he said.

The Safe Shelter project attracted controversy last year when Community Services Minister Joy Burch raised concerns about the safety of volunteers and people seeking shelter, and about the fire safety of the hall.

But Mr Griffiths said he was confident Safe Shelter would not come up against further hurdles as it attempted to expand, because the group now understood the applicable laws and regulations.

He said there were no plans to open the project to homeless women.

''There are women's shelters in the ACT that are not full, whereas the men's shelters are pretty well full all the time.''