Growing homeless population downtown grapples with reduced shelter capacity, closed restrooms
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Most people ignore Jonathan Powell when he smiles and waves at them from the corner of Washington and Meridian streets.
He’s used to it.
Powell has experienced on-and-off homelessness in downtown Indianapolis for approximately 10 years.
He knows which abandoned buildings are safe to sleep in, which alleys are filthiest and how to protect his backpack of worldly possessions while he sleeps.
But Powell is still adjusting to new challenges of unhoused living wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Since the COVID (pandemic) happened, it’s been definitely a lot worse,” he told News 8.
Several local shelters have closed or reduced capacity due to coronavirus concerns, resulting in a more visible and publicly exposed homeless population, outreach workers said.
Panhandling is difficult with fewer people shopping, dining and attending events downtown.
The homeless population downtown has increased, leading to more competition for available resources.
The most dehumanizing complication of the public health emergency, Powell said, is the closure of most public restrooms in downtown Indianapolis.
“I have to use the bathroom in the alleys…There’s like four or five alleys downtown that are just covered in feces and urine,” he said.
Brandy Smith, who has experienced homelessness for nine years, described the shame of having to sleep in the same alley she urinated in.
“It gets hard. I sleep wherever I can,” she said.
Both Powell and Smith said they had trouble finding shelter space and working hygiene stations during the pandemic, making it impossible to follow public health recommendations.
Outdoor hand-washing stations installed by city workers “run out of water pretty fast,” especially when people attempt to bathe in them because they have no access to showers, according to Powell.
These survival strategies have pitted some unhoused Hoosiers against downtown business owners already frustrated with vandalism, drugs and violent crime.
On Wednesday, Mayor Joe Hogsett announced a six-figure recovery plan aimed at increasing safety, habitability and prosperity in downtown Indianapolis following riots and pandemic-related challenges.
“Any [coronavirus] recovery effort has to involve investment and solutions for those who are most vulnerable in our community, and that is those experiencing homelessness,” said Chelsea Haring-Cozzi, executive director of the Coalition for Homeless Intervention and Prevention (CHIP).
She applauded the city’s investment in rapid rehousing programs and non-congregate shelter options, made possible by the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act).
In July, the mayor announced $2.7 million in federal grant money to help with homelessness prevention initiatives.
However, relief funds could drain quickly as more landlords move to evict tenants in the wake of the statewide moratorium’s expiration.
“Like so many cities, of course we’re preparing for the fact that there may be new individuals and families experiencing homelessness that have not before,” Haring-Cozzi said. “We’re also trying to ramp up diversion efforts and homeless prevention efforts as much as possible because we don’t want anyone to have to come into a homeless system.”
CHIP had no available data related to homeless population growth during the pandemic. The organization’s annual “point-in-time” count of homeless individuals is conducted in January.
After nearly a decade on the streets, Powell was confident he could assess the situation without numbers.
“There have been a lot more homeless people,” he said. “I have met them personally; [people who] have lost their jobs. I try to give all the new homeless people a little bit of advice on how to survive.”