Indy moves homeless camps as NCAA tournament approaches
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The city had ordered by Tuesday the closing of one of the most visible homeless camps in the city, the one around Monument Circle.
For several months, the city government has used millions of dollars from its federal coronavirus relief funds to move the homeless into hotels. But, that effort plus ones to clean up the downtown have ramped up as the city prepares in two months to host an NCAA men’s basketball tournament like no other. The event set to start March 16 will bring all of the teams to Indianapolis, Bloomington and West Lafayette for the playoffs — rather than having coaches and players go to host cities across the nation — as a way to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department says it is moving the homeless off the streets in the name of public safety. During the extended holiday weekend of Dec. 24-27, Monument Circle became a camp for dozens of people. By Christmas Eve, piles of trash blocked the entrances of several buildings. The city cleaned up the trash and ordered all the campers to move on by Tuesday.
Deputy Chief Josh Barker says IMPD’s homeless unit has worked with many people for weeks, and the push to clean up downtown and address the campers has little to do with the tournament. “The goal is permanent, affordable housing solutions for your homeless community. Just like everything else, we don’t want to simply displace. We want to maintain long-term, sustainable solutions for our homeless community.”
Barker said, “This is not a ‘Hey, we have a large event coming. I want everything out of sight, out of mind.’ This issue predates the Final Four tournament.”
Barker says, from a public safety standpoint, hosting the entire men’s basketball tournament is a bigger challenge than the Super Bowl or the Indianapolis 500. Moving the homeless into hotels is a public safety issue.
To fight off the cold, Alan Stewart and Steven Bailey try to keep a fire going at a camp just north of 16th Street. Both say they have been living on the streets for about two years and say they are just far enough out of downtown that no one bothers them.
“When all the events come around they do clear the streets,” Stewart said.
They said a nonprofit that works with the homeless population approached them two weeks ago with an offer to move them into a hotel out by Indianapolis International Airport.
“But, they have not been back in a couple of weeks,” Stewart said.
The city moved some people who were homeless into hotels.
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Other people who were in camps on Monument Circle haven’t gone far; an alley just a few yards off the Circle provides a break from the cold January winds for a half-dozen men huddling against a wall.
Another homeless camp that I-Team 8 visited a few weeks ago on the near-east side of Indianapolis has become a trash dump. The Department of Public Works is supposed to clean up the area at least once a week or more if the conditions warrant.
On Monday night, the City-County Council was to consider a funding package that aims to provide continuity for critical local programs addressing the impacts of COVID-19 on Indianapolis’ most vulnerable populations, said a news release from Mark Bode, deputy communications director for Mayor Joe Hogsett. The majority of the dollars will fund additional shelter capacity and services for people experiencing homelessness as well as a continuation of the city’s contact tracing and rental assistance programs.
Of its coronavirus relief funds, Indianapolis has spent more than $33 million for residential rental assistance., $5 million for non-congregate housing accommodations, and $7.1 million for rapid re-housing of people experiencing homelessness, Bode’s news release said.