Neighbors gathered to learn more about the Indianapolis Housing Hub set to open in 2026.
Aryn Schounce, senior policy advisor to the City of Indianapolis, and Andrew Merkley, administrator for Homelessness and Eviction Prevention with the Office of Public Health and Safety, presented an updated overview of the project.
What happened?
Merkley shared a presentation with recent plan changes on the hub, a 24-hour low-barrier homeless shelter.
“We define low-barrier as being a place available to shelter users 24/7,” Merkley said. He said this means residents can enter and use the facility regardless of substance or alcohol abuse, gender identity and sexual orientation.
“Hopefully, we can find a way to help with pets,” he said.
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Takeaways
The hub will provide wrap-around services that prioritize housing.
Merkley said the facility will have day service centers for families and single individuals. It will also have a cafeteria and a housing navigation center.
“That might be the most critical piece of the facility because that is where the magic is going to happen,” Merkley said. “That’s where we’ll have partners providing case management, wrap-around services, and getting folks housed.”
He said among the housing navigation services provided, the center will also offer homelessness diversion programs to help people on their way to becoming homeless. “We want to be able to stop them at the front door of homelessness,” he said.
The emergency shelter will have 50 individual beds, 20 family beds, and 10 couples beds. He said the beds will have doors for privacy.
Merkley said shelter users won’t have a limited time to stay. “We want you there, we want you to stabilize and we want to get you into permanent housing. That’s our goal,” he said.
The project has an overall budget of $32 million.
Attendee questions took the remainder of the conversation.
Why remove permanent housing from this facility?
Budgeting was the reason permanent housing was removed from the proposal.
Why not renovate existing empty buildings?
It may not be cheaper to renovate.
What’s next?
The next step is to secure capital funds to start construction this fall. Schounce said there will be a follow-up conversation in November.
This brief is adapted from notes taken by Documenters Janna Thomas, Kat Myers and Bréone Dupree, who covered the September Housing Hub community conversation. Read more about what happened.
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