As the winter chill sets in, a new program opening hot showers to homeless Eurobodalla locals is starting up.
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The Eurobodalla Shower and Laundry Project will kick off in the coming weeks, offering free hot showers and free access to laundromats for those sleeping rough.
Headed up by Eurobodalla Shire Council, the project brings many local service providers into the fold, including Southern Care, Salvation Army Batemans Bay, St Vincent de Paul, and more.
Together they are organising for the services' current shower facilities to open regularly, and get the word out to those who need it.
The project will also install an electronic laundry voucher system at three laundromats in the shire - one each at Batemans Bay, Narooma, and Moruya.
It is intended to eliminate the need for coins by using pay-wave technology, and cards will be given out by local homeless services.
The project has been kick-started with a $25,000 grant from the Foundation for Rural Regional Renewal; council officially accepted the funding at its regular meeting this week.
Funding will go towards both the voucher scheme, and employing a part-time volunteer coordinator to oversee operations.
Speaking to the project during the meeting, Councillor David Grace commended the community groups and staff who had started the initiative.
"We need to be looking at both the short term - there's people now who are homeless - and the long term," he said.
"This is a good approach to the short term which allows people who are homeless to have some dignity."
Recruitment for a volunteer coordinator, and installation of the pay-wave vouch system, is set to start this month. The Eurobodalla Shower and Laundry Project is a pilot program and will run until December.