Indy's homeless count is missing hundreds of Hoosiers

When Indianapolis released its annual “official” count of people experiencing homelessness this week, the headline was (misleadingly...) encouraging: 1,821 people are experiencing homelessness, and the number has remained relatively flat over the past year.

But there is one enormous problem: We know for a fact that number dramatically undercounts the true number of homeless in our city. (Spoiler alert: If Safe Park Indy clients were counted, this number would rise by 17%.)

Let me be clear: this is not a criticism of CHIP (Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention), the volunteers, or the many organizations that work together to conduct the annual Point-in-Time Count. They perform an enormous service under incredibly difficult circumstances -- but the count has significant limitations, is leaving out hundreds of people we know to be homeless, and has very real impacts on the funding the city receives to help these folks. 

To begin with, the count takes place during the middle of January, in the coldest part of the year. If you’re experiencing homelessness during an Indiana winter, you’ll often exhaust every remaining option —a motel room, a friend’s couch, a relative willing to let you stay a night or two, your last few dollars —simply to survive the cold. By design, January is the time when the fewest people are visibly unsheltered.

The methodology presents another challenge. Volunteers must physically locate people sleeping outside or in vehicles on a single night. That’s an impossible task. No volunteer army can search every wooded area, side street, parking lot, church driveway, industrial park, or secluded corner of the city. And we know from working with people living in their vehicles that they intentionally stay hidden and often move multiple times throughout the night to avoid being noticed.

These limitations matter because the Point-in-Time Count isn’t just a statistic. It is federally required for communities to receive funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the results help shape how governments and organizations allocate resources. When hundreds—or even thousands—of people are missing from the data, our community risks receiving fewer resources than are actually needed to address the problem.

At Safe Park Indy, we’ve witnessed this firsthand.

When we launched in 2024, we asked our more than 400 applicants whether they had ever been counted in the Point-in-Time Count. Not one person said yes.This year, we asked our more than 300 current applicants the same question. Again, not one person believed they had been counted.

That’s more than 700 people experiencing homelessness over the past two years who appear to have been completely absent from the city’s official count.

To put that into perspective, if only our current 312 applicants had been included in this year’s count, Indianapolis’s reported homeless population would have increased by roughly 17%. If our 422 applicants from 2024 had been counted the year before, the official total would have increased by approximately 25%. And we know not even we are capturing truly everyone who is homeless and living in their cars -- these numbers only represent those who have heard about our program and reached out for help.

And these aren’t just missing numbers; they represent a segment of the homeless population that often looks very different from the stereotypes many people imagine.

Our own data, and research from safe parking programs across the country, shows that people living in their vehicles are often employed, have completed higher levels of education, are experiencing homelessness for the first time, and have become homeless only recently. Many of our clients simply experienced a financial crisis they couldn’t recover from: a medical emergency, divorce, job loss, rent increase, or unexpected expense. They represent something deeply unsettling; these are ordinary Hoosiers who did almost everything “right” -- and still couldn’t afford housing.

That reality was reinforced again this week when Prosperity Indiana and the National Low Income Housing Coalition released their latest housing report. Today, a Hoosier must earn more than $24 per hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment. That’s more than $5 per hour higher than just three years ago, more than $5 above what the average renter earns, and more than three times Indiana’s minimum wage.

We hear the consequences of those numbers every day. Our clients tell us they are working full time. Many are working multiple jobs. Yet they still cannot earn enough to keep a roof over their heads. 

Until we acknowledge the true scale of homelessness in Indianapolis, we’ll continue designing solutions for only part of the problem. The first step toward solving any crisis is seeing it clearly. We can, and must, do better. 

Awareness

We had a fantastic call with a journalist from CNN this week. They're considering a story on the safe parking model and programs popping up across the country. We're glad to see the program are capturing national attention!

Our Biggest Needs

• Each Safe Park Indy lot costs approximately $1,000 per month to operate, and every dollar comes from individual donors.

• Our greatest current needs include basic hygiene items, ready-to-eat shelf-stable food, and comfort items. You can purchase items from our Amazon Wish List to have them shipped directly to us or make a financial donation to help keep the program operating.

• This summer, our most requested items have included:

  • Windshield sun shades

  • No-rinse body wipes

  • Portable fans

  • Feminine hygiene products

• Clients have also greatly appreciated restaurant gift cards to Subway and Wendy’s, giving them the opportunity to enjoy a meal when cooking isn’t possible.

• Finally, one of the easiest ways to help is simply by sharing our story. Please follow and share Safe Park Indy on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Every share helps more people discover our work. Or, pass this update along! 

We are also still looking for a few more lot hosts so we can move people off of our waiting lists and into a safe parking spot. If you're interested in hosting, check out our website to learn more and reach out. Our current lot hosts are also happy to chat with those interested to share their experiences. 

Updated Client Demographics
Average age: 41
Gender: 51% female, 37% male, 10% nonbinary
27% have a pet with them
12% have minor children with them
79% have no criminal convictions
95% speak English as their primary language
56% White, 30% Black, 3% Hispanic/Latino, 7% multiracial
4% are veterans

Education

• 37% have attended college

• 12% completed trade or technical school

• 38% have a high school diploma or equivalent

• 11% did not complete high school

Before living in their vehicles

• 34% stayed with family or friends

• 32% rented a home or apartment

• 16% stayed in a hotel or motel

• 8% stayed in a shelter

• 4% lived on the streets

• 2% owned a home

• 2% lived in a halfway house or recovery center

Employment

• 51% are employed

• 30% are unemployed but actively seeking work

• 16% receive disability benefits

• 2% are retired

• Average monthly income: $1,117

Housing History

• 63% have experienced homelessness for six months or less

• Only 9% are what we would consider chronically homeless (two years or more)

• 67% are experiencing homelessness for the first time

• 52% have not yet connected with any other social service organization

Some percentages may not total 100% due to non-responses. Some questions allowed multiple responses, so totals may exceed 100%.