Category Archives: Food Not Bombs Hobart

Homeless Support Initiative: — Social Work & Community Engagement Projects

Overview:

StreetShelter is a community-based initiative designed to offer people experiencing homelessness a safe and welcoming place to rest and recharge, treating shelter not just as a roof but as a place of dignity, belonging, and hope. 

Key Features:

• Inclusive shelter space: Ground-level sleeping options and comfortable, non-judgmental environment tailored to individual needs.  
• More than a bed: Nourishing meals and supportive conversation help participants as they rebuild confidence and find pathways forward.  
• Holistic support: Alongside rest, the project includes listening support and opportunities to reconnect with resources and services.  
• Advocacy focus: The work also highlights the right to housing and challenges systemic causes of homelessness.  

Mission:

To provide rest, compassion, and human connection to those who are unhoused — creating experiences of home and community rather than mere survival. 

Status: Archived (seeking new shelter solutions/camper support) — a reflective project entry documenting the long-term vision of supporting people off the streets. 

See more posts:

• What I Do When Hope Is Gone (And I Don’t Feel Like Pretending)
• Newsletter — Number One (Yes, our first newsletter ever)
• Join a Gathering – A gentle place to start — whether you’re ready to come along, or just curious.
• When You Do Everything Right and Still Feel Wrong
• Small Project: Finding the Entry Point

Food Not Bombs Hobart is a welcoming, community-driven space where food is shared freely, dignity is honoured, and everyone is treated with respect and care. There are no forms, no eligibility tests, and no questions asked about your situation — just food, connection, and community. 

📅 When & Where

Every Saturday

📍 Criterion House, down Mathers Lane, Hobart CBD

🕐 From 1:00 pm to about 2:30pm (sometimes a little longer)

Food and support are available during these times each week. 

Tip: We aim to start together at 1pm. Arriving a little before 1pm helps everyone pitch in with a short setup, so we can begin eating together and no one misses out.

🍽️ What Happens There

When you come along, here’s what to expect:

Free, nutritious meals: food shared with care.  Open community space: you can eat, talk, relax, or just be.  Help yourself or others: if you want to help with serving, washing up or packing up, you’re welcome.  No pressure: you don’t need to explain your situation or prove anything — just come as you are. 

There’s also often a Free Market of clothing, shoes, and small items available at the same time. 

🧭 How to Find Us

The event is in the Hobart CBD, just off Bathurst Street at Criterion House (down Mathers Lane).

If you’re unsure of the way, look for people standing around the door at the bottom of the lane and the smell of food — that’s where you want to be! 

🤝 Want to Help or Volunteer?

You can absolutely help out if you want to — by:

Preparing food and bringing it with you Helping serve meals Chatting with others Helping with clean-up

Most people just introduce themselves and get involved in whatever feels right. No leadership or experience required. 

🧡 Why We Do This

Food Not Bombs Hobart is about sharing food, kindness, and community — because everyone deserves a place at the table. This is part of the wider support work Christiaan connects to relational, respectful help for people in hardship. 

If you’d like a reminder before Saturdays or updates, check the Support Hub or our Facebook page. We also have a Facebook chat group for volunteers. You’re also welcome to contact Christiaan directly through the Support Hub page for more info.

Or, contact Christiaan via email here.

You’re also welcome to enjoy Christiaan’s reflection blogs about Relational Hospitality:

• How Food Moves: Relationship, Risk, and Trust
• This Bread Is Not a Message About You
• Built by Being Known
• Clothes you can take, no questions asked

Opening Reflection

Work that matters often starts small. The Giveaway Table is just that — a table, set up every Saturday alongside Food Not Bombs, offering free goods to people who are homeless, urban poor, or in need. It’s an experiment to see what happens when the usual rules of commerce are set aside and goods are shared freely.

The table is quiet, unassuming, and relational. Yet it has the power to disrupt assumptions about how resources flow, who deserves access, and what it means to participate in a community.

What Happened

Each week, the table is stocked with essentials: clothing, shoes, kitchen appliances, blankets, vegan foods, and more. People arrive in different ways — some come for the meal at Food Not Bombs, some for the giveaway items, some for both. Everyone participates at their own pace. Everyone is seen.

The work involves more than placing goods on a table. Ethical distribution, collaboration, and responsiveness to participant needs are central. The table becomes a space where access barriers are softened, and dignity is preserved.

What It Taught Me

The Giveaway Table shows that work can be relational and ethical, even when small-scale. It reminds me that giving freely is not simple — it can spark tensions, test assumptions, and challenge traditional notions of efficiency. Yet it also demonstrates the depth of impact a simple act can have: people feel acknowledged, respected, and nourished.

It reinforces a principle I’ve seen across other microenterprises and community work: presence comes before program, invitation comes before outcome.

Reflection on Microenterprise

The Giveaway Table is a model for microenterprise in a charitable context. It doesn’t generate profit, but it redistributes resources, cultivates participation, and creates dignity. It’s locally produced, relational, and solves a human need without relying on industrial or hierarchical structures.

For anyone exploring microenterprise, the Giveaway Table demonstrates that small, intentional acts can yield meaningful social impact and ethical practice — a template for work shaped by care rather than output.

Closing Reflection / Invitation

If you’re curious about how small-scale action can create real presence, dignity, and participation, the Giveaway Table offers insight. It isn’t a blueprint to copy, but a posture to consider: work that begins with seeing people, offering freely, and building trust one table at a time.

See the work

• Seeing the Work: A Reflection on Relational Practice
• Seeing the Work: Pete
• Seeing the Work: Priscilla
• When making isn’t about outcome
• The Giveaway Table – Presence before Program