She claims her charity now needs more council support.
At the Roundhouse at Invermay in Launceston, a trailer with seven sleeping pods for people experiencing homelessness sits empty. Strike It Out's founder says this is due to the lack of proper council permits.
A group of tents housing about 12 homeless people stand near the sleeping pods and a trailer with portable showers.
Ms Ritchie says the City of Launceston Council told her she couldn't operate her sleeping pods and portable showers without proper safety permits.
"I asked if this [drain] was a mixed stormwater and sewerage drain in Invermay. It is grey water and shower water. What is the problem?" Ms Ritchie said.
In a June 13 meeting, councillors voted to endorse the Homelessness Statement of Commitment, which outlines how the council plans to deal with the ongoing issue of homelessness.
The council responds
City of Launceston Mayor Matthew Garwood said initiatives, including what Strike it Out is proposing, require written proposals, as with any request for ratepayer-funded assets: risk and safety assessments and compliance with relevant legislation and other Tasmanian laws.
"The council has expended significant time and resources in repeated - and so far unsuccessful - efforts to work collaboratively with Strike It Out and ensure these basic requirements are met to allow the proposal to progress," Cr Garwood said
"The council will continue to work alongside community organisations and all levels of government to take collective action to support those experiencing homelessness, and our door is always open to Strike It Out to discuss these important issues in a collaborative and considerate spirit."
The number of people experiencing homelessness in Australia has grown 5.2% in the past five years with women and children, as well as Indigenous Australians, bearing the brunt of the housing crisis.
Ms Ritchie said people without homes desperately need a shower and an available bed to sleep in.
"It's heartbreaking when I have to refuse people on the phone saying, 'Sorry, we've got seven empty beds here, but we can't help you," Ms Ritchie said.
"Why should we have all this infrastructure built that was kindly donated by people in our community who have helped to make this happen just to be sitting there doing nothing."
Launceston Church Grammar School have been fundraising for Strike It Out to raise funds for the sleeping pod program, Ms Ritchie said.
She said the council has met with her and told her that homeless people can no longer stay in the Invermay area due to flood risks.
"How many more businesses are being developed here in the Invermay area? We're mobile, and we will come down, and we can take everything out of here if we have to at any time."
Ms Ritchie claims the council says they are concerned about the homeless people sleeping in the area but "haven't done enough to help them".
"They haven't come down here and told the people they're worried about them, or they don't wish for people without homes to be down here."
The charity founder said she asked the council about alternative solutions and said the homeless people she manages "have nowhere else to go".
Tents of homeless people in the Roundhouse at the Northern Inveresk Carpark,
off Forster Street, Invermay, Launceston. Picture by Paul Scambler
More security on the ground
Additionally, The Strike It Out founder says people experiencing homelessness need secure storage for their belongings and better security on the ground.
"These people are vulnerable enough; they're at the bottom; there's no more bottom than where they are.
"For their mental health and well-being, if we can help to give them some security, and give them a place where they can get their mental health into a better state. That's a good starting point," Ms Ritchie said.
Some people experiencing homelessness in Invermay are women and children who have had to escape family violence, according to Ms Ritchie.
"Why should a mother and children have to flee the home and leave with their belongings and have to start all over again, from scratch, when the perpetrator is allowed to stay in the house? "Put an anklet bracelet on the perpetrator and remove them.
"[Homeless] shelters are all full; they're turning away eight women and kids a day."
Ms Ritchie says she is encouraging people without housing to use their skills and engage in carpentry and other workshops in Invermay "rather than just sitting around with nothing to do and wasting time."
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