The shade of a large tree gave Angela Merrell a place to escape the midday sun and talk with homeless outreach workers about an uncertain future.
Merrell, 55, has been living in a homeless encampment in Fountain Square for about three months. Some of her family members are there, too.
And now that the city has made plans to close the encampment by Aug. 11, Merrell is scrambling to find what’s next. She’s hoping to have a home soon.
“If not,” Merrell said from her chair on the sidewalk, “I don’t even know.”
Merrell gave her information to outreach workers on the afternoon of July 29. The outreach workers, with the Homeless Initiative Program, were making sure Merrell is on the list to get housing whenever a unit becomes available.
But the reality for Merrell and others at the encampment is that their next move probably won’t be to a home. That takes too long.
Kay Wiles, director of the Homeless Initiative Program, was blunt in her assessment.
“Can we get people housed by the 11th?” she said at the encampment. “No, probably not.”
Instead, they’ll most likely move to another encampment.
It can take years to get housing in Indianapolis
The system Indianapolis uses to take people from homelessness to housing can be complicated. It involves getting their information and putting them into a database. Some people, such as veterans and those with a terminal illness, get higher priority.
And advocates say there isn’t nearly enough affordable housing to meet demand, even as Indianapolis adds to the stock of supportive housing options.
All told, it can sometimes take years to find housing.
Merrell’s son, Christopher Busbee, is also living at the homeless encampment.
“I ain’t got nowhere to go,” he said.
Busbee, 36, is worried that as people move out, camps in other neighborhoods will get bigger and draw negative attention.
Some people living at the Fountain Square encampment say that’s what happened to them. The camp has had dozens of people living there, and as more came, they said, issues such as drug use and theft became more common. There were also apparent mutilated dog remains at the site.
The tension led to some complaints from nearby residents about safety and cleanliness.
Mayor Joe Hogsett, whose administration made the decision to close the encampment, said it has been a “very challenging situation.”
“I understand the neighbors’ perspective,” he told Mirror Indy on July 29, “and I also, as mayor, have to share the unhoused neighbors’ perspective.”
Hogsett spoke at a groundbreaking ceremony for an affordable housing project in the Mapleton-Fall Creek neighborhood.
But even the housing project — Central@29 — shows how a slow-moving system can put someone experiencing homelessness years away from getting off of the streets.
The project has been 14 years in the making. It was delayed by financing and the pandemic.
Once complete, there will be 11 units reserved for people experiencing homelessness.
This closure isn’t part of Streets to Home
The closure of the Fountain Square encampment comes as Indianapolis ramps up an initiative to get people experiencing homelessness into housing.
The program, called Streets to Home Indy, is led by the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention. The goal is to end long-term and unsheltered homelessness by 2028. Streets to Home will involve closing encampments once everyone there is housed.
However, the Fountain Square encampment isn’t part of Streets to Home, CHIP CEO Chelsea Haring-Cozzi told Mirror Indy.
Streets to Home is still in a pilot phase, she said, starting with small encampments.
For people living in the Fountain Square camp, that means they’ll probably need a little luck to find housing soon.
It isn’t impossible, though.
Rick Loy used to live at the encampment, but he recently moved into an apartment at Hanna Commons, a southside complex that includes support services for residents.
“I’m very blessed,” Loy, 65, said.
But you can still find him at the encampment some days, sitting in a circle and chatting with other guys who still live there.
It’s nice to go back, Loy said, and be with friends.
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
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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