People experiencing homelessness in Indianapolis will likely have at least two temporary shelters to stay at this winter.
One site — a westside warehouse owned by Noble of Indiana — would be used to shelter families. The city’s Metropolitan Development Commission approved a rezoning request for the site Oct. 15. The City-County Council has to give final approval.
Andrew Merkley, director of the Office of Public Health and Safety, told the commission there will be pods within the warehouse for families to sleep. There will also be shower trailers and a kitchen space.
The shelter will be part of a winter contingency plan that gets people experiencing homelessness inside during the coldest months of the year.
But Merkley said the goal is to have an overflow shelter site available as needed throughout the year.
“As the climate continues to change and we have really hot days during the summer,” he said, “there may be a need for this type of shelter at that time as well.”
Winter contingency is supposed to begin Dec. 1.
A second site — West Morris Free Methodist Church — will shelter individual men, but only when the temperature is below 25 degrees. The church doesn’t need the same city approvals because it’s already zoned for this use.
How winter contingency has changed
The winter contingency plan used to be organized by Wheeler Mission.
But the task became too big for the city’s largest shelter provider, and Wheeler started reducing its role in the plan last year.
That led to an increased input from the Office of Public Health and Safety.
When Merkley was nominated by Mayor Joe Hogsett to lead the agency, he faced intense criticism from some homelessness advocates and city-county councilors over the city’s handling of last year’s winter contingency.
Many argued an old school building that served as an overflow shelter last winter wasn’t fit for people to live there. And some reported unsafe conditions inside the building.
Indianapolis Public Schools has since decided to sell the building.
An announcement for the full winter contingency plan is expected later in October.
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Mirror Indy reporter Tyler Fenwick covers housing and labor. Contact him at 317-766-1406 or tyler.fenwick@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @ty_fenwick and Bluesky @tyfenwick.bsky.social.
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