Anita Burks is tired.
Burks, 55, spent Aug. 10 packing her belongings at a homeless encampment on Leonard Street in Fountain Square. The next day, she was setting up her tent at a new location — a plot of land at Georgia and Shelby streets, about a mile away — when a Mirror Indy journalist asked how her move had gone.
“I’m so tired of being thrown around from here to there,” Burks said through tears while her dog, Stormy, rested at her feet. “What I’ve been through the last three years, no one should have to go through.”
But she had met the deadline set by Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration, which on July 25 posted signs near the Leonard Street encampment stating the area would be closed to camping starting Monday, Aug. 11.
A group of nearby neighbors and business owners helped Burks and others move to the new spot, which is also where the Hogsett administration plans to build a low-barrier homeless shelter.
What’s unclear, though, is what will happen next now that Burks and others have set up tents at the new location.
“Police said they don’t think we can stay here either,” Burks said.
Over at the original Leonard Street camp, more than a dozen tents still stood on the afternoon of Aug. 11, some surrounded by packed belongings or trash receptacles. No one had been forced to leave.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department spokespeople declined a request for comment, referring Mirror Indy to the city’s Office of Public Health and Safety.
Brian Heinemann, an OPHS spokesperson, said in an email that “any activity at the encampment will occur following the posted closure date.”
“Since the notice was posted, service providers and outreach workers have continued to work diligently toward connecting those living in the camp with resources and alternative accommodations they may need,” Heinemann wrote in the email to Mirror Indy. “Those efforts will continue throughout the day.”
He did not say if people would be forced to move after Aug. 11.
Travis Dalton, left, and his sister, Angela Merrell, take down a covering from her tent. Credit: Jenna Watson/Mirror Indy 
Campsites sit partially packed on the afternoon of Aug. 11. Credit: Jenna Watson/Mirror Indy 
Police respond to a call for help at a plot of land near Georgia and Shelby streets. Credit: Jenna Watson/Mirror Indy 
Anita Burks fights back tears while talking to Mirror Indy. Credit: Jenna Watson/Mirror Indy 
Travis Dalton, center, talks to Kay Wiles, left, and Angi Blakey from the Homeless Initiative Program. Credit: Jenna Watson/Mirror Indy 
Campsites sit partially packed. Credit: Jenna Watson/Mirror Indy 
Angela Merrell stands outside of her tent. Credit: Jenna Watson/Mirror Indy
Angela Merrell, 55, and her family sat with their sites neatly packed all day, anxiously waiting to get the keys to an apartment in Beech Grove, which she obtained through the Homeless Initiative Program. The nonprofit coordinates federally funded rapid rehousing for children and adults, and has a Marion County office a few blocks from the camp.
Merrell, her husband and her brother, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer a few weeks ago, were set to move into the two-bedroom apartment Aug. 8, but the landlord delayed move-in due to repairs. Merrell was getting nervous.
“I’m not gonna go to another campsite and have my brother die in a tent cause they don’t do what they say,” said Merrell, pacing in front of her site at the Leonard Street location.
A few hours later, Kay Wiles, director of HIP, brought water to people there. She reassured Merrell the unit would be ready this week and that the family would be able to stay on Leonard Street until then.
“Just a few more days,” Merrell told her brother, tipping the bill of his Indianapolis Colts baseball cap.
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
Jenna Watson is art director for Mirror Indy. Contact her at jenna.watson@mirrorindy.org.
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