Winter contingency plans for people experiencing homelessness in Indy are uncertain

With winter quickly approaching, local homelessness organizations and partners are trying to figure out how they’re going to provide added shelter for those who need it.

For decades, Wheeler Mission has taken the lead in Indianapolis’s so-called winter contingency plan for people experiencing homelessness. The annual plan outlines shelter overflow options as more people seek shelter during the winter.

Wheeler says this year it needs to scale back. In recent winters, Wheeler has gone over capacity to shelter people and it doesn't have the resources or staff to do that again this year. Wheeler has two shelters and is expecting to be able to shelter nearly every single man and every single woman. They will not have enough space for families.

That’s left local organizations and partners scrambling to try to make sure there are enough places for families who need it this winter.

“This will be the first year that we won’t be able to guarantee shelter for families, and that’s scary. We don’t know what’s going to happen to those families,” said Melissa Bell, the Diversion Team Manager for HealthNet’s Homeless Initiative Program.

In the past few years, local organizations relied on millions in federal emergency relief funding that helped people during Covid. Now that the pandemic money has dried up, they’re struggling to provide shelter to everyone who needs it.

“When that funding runs out, it’s not just flexible dollars that are not available, it’s staffing, being able to sustain the staff to help folks is huge, and not being able to have dollars to overcome barriers and get people into housing is the other big problem,” Bell said.

There are some funds from the city available to put people in hotels, but organizations said not enough. Bell said not having the funds to shelter people in emergency hotel rooms, which the city has also spent federal funding on, is another concern.

“Not being able to have funding to find an overflow spot where we can stick people who need shelter in the winter is another obvious problem without having those additional dollars,” she said.

Without those dollars and with Wheeler scaling back, the winter plan for sheltering families this year will look different. Partners continue to meet and develop the plan.

Priorities include diverting families from becoming unsheltered initially. Bell encouraged community members to support their local family shelter, either through donations or by volunteering.

There were 1,701 people experiencing homelessness in Indianapolis during an annual count in January this year.