INDIANAPOLIS — Leadership on the Indianapolis City-County Council and city officials recently announced a homeless outreach partnership in the Mile Square. $650k will go towards direct outreach to connect individuals experiencing homelessness with housing and wrap-around services though Horizon House. Additional partners include Adult and Child Health and CHIP Indianapolis.
The effort represents a key piece of the $3.5 million partnership between the City and Downtown Indy Inc. announced late last year. Other pieces include IMPD bike patrols, public safety cameras, and enhanced cleaning in the Downtown area.
Funding is from the American Rescue Plan Act for an outreach team who will help people experiencing homelessness in the Mile Square downtown. The team will help individuals connect with support services as well as interim and permanent housing. The effort is part of a $3.5 million plan to enhance safety and cleanliness downtown that the city announced in November.
Community leaders have noted that there has been a significant increase in the number of both people experiencing homeless in Indianapolis from 2011 to 2020. According to the point-in-time count taken each year, there were 1,761 individuals experiencing homelessness in the city on the night of Jan. 24, 2022. In 2020. there were 1,588 individuals. Studies have suggested that the chronically homeless population of people unhoused over a year with a disabling condition, has increased about 5% from 2020 to 2022.