(INDIANAPOLIS) — There are more homeless people in Marion County compared to a year ago, the first increase in three years.
Communities across the U.S. take a single-day census of the homeless in January. This year’s count in Indianapolis found 1,588 homeless, 21 more than last year — that’s a 1% increase, though still lower than 2018. The number has hovered between about 1,500 and 1,900 for the last decade.
Chelsea Haring-Cozzi, executive director of the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention, says the essentially flat numbers show Marion County needs to stick with its strategy of addressing underlying issues like mental health. And she says there need to be more African-American and Hispanic representatives involved in planning efforts, to make sure there are approaches appropriate for those communities. Just over half Marion County’s homeless are African-American.
About 200 of the homeless were on the street, not in shelters, nearly double last year. The report found fewer homeless families and more homeless individuals. There were also declines in homelessness in two high-risk groups: veterans and the mentally ill. But the count found more homeless with drug abuse issues.
Haring-Cozzi says it’s unclear what the effect of the pandemic might be on next year’s numbers. She
notes the virus forced shelters to reduce capacity to stay in line with social distancing recommendations. And she says it’s unclear at this point how evictions might swell homeless numbers. A five-month moratorium on evictions expired last week.
The statewide count is expected in a couple of weeks. Last year, Marion County accounted for nearly 30% of the statewide total.
