Connecting with Community: Interfaith Hospitality Network

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Since 1994, an Indianapolis agency has provided emergency shelter to people who find themselves homeless.

The Indianapolis Interfaith Hospitality Network – or “Interfaith” for short – accepts homeless families in a 24-hour comprehensive program and operates a Day Center where adults can have shelter, look for work, meet with case managers and break the cycle of recurrent homelessness.

“On a bad day,” says Executive Director Jim McElhinney, “We could get up to 20 phone calls from people we can’t accommodate.”

The families who are admitted into Interfaith’s program have no criminal record and just need a hand getting back on their feet. Kim Hebert, from Louisiana, is the head of one such person.

Hebert, along with her partner and her partner’s children moved from Louisiana to Indiana to be closer to her partner’s son, who’s being treated in a Central Indiana facility. Hebert was employed, but not for long. She was laid off in July.

"I got laid off and then I couldn't pay rent,” says Hebert. “I didn’t know what we were going to do."

Hebert and her partner went to Salvation Army for help, which linked them to Interfaith at the beginning of August. Interfaith then connected the family with agencies that could help.

“We don't want a guest to come in and become dependent on us,” says Interfaith Case Manager Cathy Delaney. “We want to connect them with the community. The reason they're falling into homelessness is they have no net. So, we create that net for them."

Interfaith operates from The Day Center, which provides day accommodations with showering facilities, storage space for personal belongings, computer access-training, use of telephones, transportation, medical emergency triage, case management and agency referrals.

Interfaith partners with 29 congregations in the Indianapolis area to house families at night, one week at a time. Families are bused to the house of worship in the evening where they’re fed dinner. In the morning, congregation volunteers serve them breakfast and give them a sack lunch. Families are then bused back to the Interfaith Day Center in the morning.

When a family is taken in, they are accepted initially for 30 days. They can be extended up to 90 days. A new “AfterCare” program at Interfaith extends the time families receive help by up to 24 months.

"If you've been troubled enough to be homeless, 90 days in a homeless shelter isn't going to begin to solve those problems,” says McElhinney. "What aftercare does is it continues to build on the relationships that have been there, and then we can support that family and prevent a fall-back into homelessness."

For Kim Hebert, "Interfaith" has been a lifesaver.

"It’s hard. It's hard on the family, it's hard on the kids. However, at least we're not sleeping on the streets and have no food,” Hebert said.

Thanks to Interfaith’s help, Kim now has a job and her family will be moving into their new home next week, just in time for the holidays.