City receives record amount of federal funding for homeless programs

The city of Indianapolis will receive $9.9 million in record federal funding to address homelessness, a large increase from previous years.

Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said when the city first received Housing and Urban Development money, it only totaled a few million dollars. 

“And we were ecstatic about that, because we had been actually losing federal funding and we had finally turned a corner to receive federal funding,” Hogsett said.

This year’s award represents a 127 percent increase in funding compared to 2015. 

The money will go to fund projects from 20 initiatives focused on housing and support services for people experiencing homelessness. The money from HUD will be focused on initiatives for youth, domestic violence victims and chronic homelessness. All submitted projects will receive funding.

Indianapolis' Continuum of Care is a group of stakeholders that work collaboratively to address homelessness. In 2018, partners launched a plan to end homelessness by this year. A new plan is being crafted.

Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention executive director Chelsea Haring-Cozzi said the core mission remains.

“And that vision continues to be that everyone in Indianapolis has the right to be housed and connected to care – housing is a human right,” Haring-Cozzi.

The city says since the plan was established, there have been more than 1,600 permanent supportive housing units created. The construction of about 60 new units is expected with this new money. 

These include rapid recovery units for Salvation Army clients fleeing domestic violence, units for youth and young adults with Partners in Housing, and 30 units for Horizon House clients who have experienced chronic homelessness.

Contact WFYI city government and policy reporter Jill Sheridan at jsheridan@wfyi.org. Follow on Twitter: @JillASheridan.