Humberto Acebedo and other people living at an eastside homeless encampment have been cleaning up their space in hopes they won’t be forced out by Indianapolis police.
They want to show they can keep the area clean. On Monday morning, some were gathering scattered trash into piles.
“The project is big,” Acebedo said, “but it’s not impossible. We can do it for real.”
The encampment, at the corner of East Washington Street and Emerson Avenue, is home to about six people. Acebedo said he’s been there about two months. He and others have set up tents, canopies and other coverings in a wooded area near Pleasant Run Trail.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has received more than two dozen complaints this year, according to an IMPD statement, along with 20 reports of trash fires.
But IMPD hasn’t set a timeline for forcing people to leave, according to the statement. The department’s Homeless Unit is working to get them connected to resources.
“Our goal is to help provide housing, food, addiction treatment, medical and mental health services, toiletries, clothing, transportation, and other necessities — especially during extreme weather conditions,” according to the statement.
Trash at the site includes empty food and soda cans, along with gas station cups and other small items. A lot of it is already in trash bags.
And even as it appears their efforts won’t pay off, people who live at the encampment are continuing to pitch in where they can.
An encampment resident named Luis, who declined to share his last name, was working on the wheels of a damaged wagon to help haul trash to the piles.
City-County Councilor Jesse Brown, a Democrat who represents the area, visited the encampment over the weekend and said people living there told him issues were isolated to one person who has since left.
The IMPD statement confirmed there was one person “who has been aggressive to others in the area and warned numerous times.”
Brown said he contacted IMPD and he doesn’t want the department to remove everyone because of one person who was causing problems.
“I was worried they’d use that to clear the whole camp out,” Brown told Mirror Indy.
Still, encampment residents are hoping it won’t come to that.
And if it does, Acebedo said he’ll move on.
“God will bless me always,” he said.
Mirror Indy reporter Tyler Fenwick writes about housing and labor. Contact him at 317-766-1406 or tyler.fenwick@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @ty_fenwick.
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