Safe Park Indy halts operations, hopes to return

For the past year, homeless people living in their cars were able to stay in one of three parking lots in Indianapolis through a program called Safe Park Indy. 

But now that pilot program is coming to a close, with organizers saying they do not have the resources to continue.

Parking lots allowed 20 guests to stay for up to 60 days. When the program launched, organizers said they had a waitlist of over 100 people. That list grew to roughly 400 before the pilot ended.

Elizabeth Friedland launched Safe Park Indy. She said their all-volunteer staff was overwhelmed by work that would require full-time employees.

“What we have realized, unfortunately, is that the need is so great and even much greater than we had anticipated, that we just can't run it as a volunteer team anymore,” she said.

According to Friedland, the program had both donations and community support to continue but struggled due to the time commitment required of volunteers.

Friedland said she is currently speaking to nonprofit groups and has reached out to the city in hopes that they can find people willing to take over the project.

The Director of the Indianapolis Office of Public Health and Safety, Andrew Merkley, said they are thankful for the program, but it is not in the proposed city budget.

“It is not part of our plans to implement a similar program,” he said.

Homelessness in Indianapolis has grown in recent years, particularly so-called unsheltered homelessness: individuals sleeping outside or in their cars.

Friedland said Safe Park Indy revealed just how many people were in need of a place to stay.

“I think when we uncovered the true demand for this kind of service, the true need that people have, the true number of folks who are living in their cars in Indianapolis, I think we just weren't prepared logistically to be able to handle that as volunteers in our spare time,” she said.

In addition to a place to stay, Safe Park Indy also included access to a building with a bathroom and donated supplies, including food and toiletries.

Friedland said having a safe place to park is a common-sense solution to address the issue of homelessness in Indianapolis.

“There is clearly a need for this in Indianapolis,” she said. “This is a very helpful, very cost-efficient program to provide some of that emergency help. It's in a model that literally no one else is doing in this entire state right now.”

Contact Health Reporter Benjamin Thorp at bthorp@wfyi.org.