As Darwin city has grown, a little hostel for the homeless in the CBD has been dwarfed by towering office blocks and apartment buildings.
But its heart is bigger than ever.
House 49 has just been renovated using entirely donated funds, giving renewed pride to the former Red Shield Hostel which has been on prime Darwin land since the 1950s.
Geoff Moffat, 59, originally from Albury in NSW, has lived there for 29 years — longer than anyone else.
"I've seen a few people come and go and things happen in the hostel," he told ABC Radio Darwin Drive.
He's also the most colourful resident, as evidenced by his loud shirts.
"I'm not a T-shirt man," he said.
Mr Moffat, who also spent time working as a boat mechanic, in a workshop, and in community radio in Alice Springs, now has osteoarthritis in his hip and is on a disability pension.
"I came up here to get away from the cold," he said.
A few other ailments have slowed him down since. But the Salvos has always been a rock for him.
"They help you out with housing and if you have problems they give referral letters," he said.
"If you go to a caseworker they help you get a flat a bit quicker because you're actually on priority housing."
Paying it forward
Another resident, Kenny, has been putting his time to good use at House 49.
He built a gym, a chicken coop, and a budgie cage.
He arrived at House 49 with medical and mental health issues.
"Life sort of went downhill, and I kept struggling and struggling to pay the rent, pay the bills, and get on top of things. But things just didn't come good," he said.
"I rang crisis care and they put me in touch with these guys.
"With my state of mind at the time, I wasn't happy about it.
"But slowly but surely, they've really just come to my rescue; what they've done has been fantastic.
'No questions asked'
Kenny urged people to consider the work of the Salvos.
"I don't think people understand. I think they see the facade, and they think of just a bunch of no hope, good-for-nothing people," he said.
"They need a helping hand a lot of them just to get back up, and these people provide that helping hand, no questions asked.
"It's not only the people in here that they support, they also support the people on the street as well.
Take a little, leave a lot
Up to 85 men and women can stay in 69 rooms at the hostel.
House 49 manager Danelle Bachler said the renovations would directly improve the lives of vulnerable people in Darwin.
"It's about people creating dignity, home, and stability so that they can sort through the things and the traumas and whatever may have happened to them … then get back on their feet," she said.
Residents have their own spaces, and look after their own food, but once a week they host an all-in communal cook-up.
Their diet is supplemented with donated food such as fruit and vegetables, leftovers including unopened camping tucker, excess goods from the Howard Springs Quarantine Facility, and a weekly delivery of fresh fish from the boat.
Ms Bachler said surprise donations gave residents the chance to learn how to make meals "out of what you've got".
To donate to the ABC Radio Darwin Salvation Army Christmas appeal 2021, go to abc.net.au/ntgives.
