Every couple of days, she receives a text message or referral about someone - whether it be an entire family or individual - needing a place to stay the night or risk sleeping in the car.
It has become such an all-consuming task she has stopped work, leaving engineer husband Kevin to support their family. Such is their passion for people, he will soon quit so he can give his full attention to studying social services.
Property Brokers donated a two-storey building but there was still much work to be done.
First they had to find a suitable piece of land to put the 240sq m house on, something Hastings District Council and Napier City Council were looking into.
However, a deadline to move the building will creep up in three months.
"Our dream is to be on the outskirts a bit, not in the centre of town, not residential, just a nice big space," she said.
Ideally, they would be based between Hastings and Napier, so people from throughout Hawke's Bay could use their services.
Just getting the building from A to B would cost a minimum of $80,000, then there is painting, plumbing, electrics, landscaping, fencing, and big plans for a commercial kitchen, where they could make food for the soup kitchen but also hold cooking lessons.
It will work as an office for the Swannells too - so their home can go back to being just that.
Already they have enlisted some of the homeless men they help to do some of the basics, but they will need professionals to complete much of the work.
She asked anyone with land to donate or who wanted to contribute to come forward.
Starting from scratch was a big ask but it is all part of a wider plan for the project they are calling Limitless Hope.
"We want people not to put limitations on themselves, we would be so grateful for any help they can give."
The shelter would be used as a first port of call for those who found themselves sleeping rough before liaising with other agencies to find a more permanent solution.
"We want to work and network with them, but if someone rings up at 2am they will have somewhere to put their head for the night. Then the following day we can dig deeper and work with other agencies to wrap around them."
It was not just homeless people who would benefit from the service.
Being at the coal face with the soup kitchen, they knew how difficult it could be to reach out.
Limitless Hope would be a non-judgmental place for women, families and children, where a warm space and food was always provided.
"It's a real problem, the people we deal with have been living on the street for a long time.
"What we are doing will be prevention, we will get people at the start before they become accustomed to life on the streets. Better that than being an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff."
Property Brokers Hawke's Bay manager Paul Whitaker felt it was a waste to tear down the former Property Brokers office on St Aubyn St West, used by the business for the past 20 years.
"We'd like to see it go to a good home. We think what she does is great and we want to help facilitate it," Mr Whitaker said.
Hawke's Bay Today editor Andrew Austin said the newspaper was "more than happy" to support the project.
"The Swannells do so much for those in need that we felt it was our duty to publicise what they are doing and appeal to our readers to donate," he said.
•For more information, search the key words "Limitless Hope" on Facebook. To donate funds for the building's relocation, click here.
