Fountain Square Camp Shutting Down in August
INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis is displacing people experiencing homelessness from the Fountain Square encampment, a move that critics argue is a superficial response to a serious issue.
Simply moving individuals without providing them with stable, long-term housing, comprehensive mental health services, and employment support does not solve homelessness. It merely shifts the problem elsewhere, out of public sight.
Advocates have urged Indianapolis to embrace the Streets to Home Indy Initiative as a more effective and human solution. This program focuses on a “housing first” approach, offering immediate shelter combined with essential services to help them achieve stability and regain their dignity. However, Indianapolis seems to be prioritizing temporary measures for public appearance over sustainable, long-term investments in addressing the root causes of homelessness.
Critics emphasize that homelessness is a crisis demanding genuine solutions rooted in compassion, rather than just being something to be “swept away.”
“This is not about tents and tarps, it’s about people. It is about neighbors who have fallen on hard times being treated with human dignity,” Rev. David W. Greene, Sr., President of the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis said in a press release on Monday. “We cannot build a just city on the backs of the most vulnerable. We must lead with compassion, invest in real solutions like Streets to Home, and refuse to normalize this cycle of displacement.”
City leaders say services from the Professional Blended Street Outreach Teams, IMPD’s Homeless Unit, and other service providers will work with encampment residents to offer housing services.
The city is shutting down the Fountain Square homeless encampment across Leonard Street on August 11th.
