INDIANAPOLIS — More than a dozen hand washing stations have been placed in Downtown Indianapolis and an outreach team is working to help those experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Indianapolis Office of Public Health and Safety and Horizon House are working to reach out to continue supporting those who experiencing homelessness in the city, according to a press release OPHS.
The city has placed 15 hand washing stations throughout downtown to help control the spread of the coronavirus.
They have been placed at the following locations, according to the release:
- Wheeler’s Men’s Shelter on Market Street
- Monument Circle (NE & SE quadrants)
- Central Library (Near base of front steps)
- Alabama Street (sidewalk behind Roberts Park Church parking lot & eastside of Cultural Trail between Needler’s and red brick office building)
- Cathedral Kitchen Parking Lot (Near Parking lot entrance off Pennsylvania Avenue)
- Georgia St. (Sidewalk outside St. John’s Catholic Church annex & sidewalk outside Howl and the Moon)
- University Park (Vermont Street sidewalk)
- Lugar Plaza (Near Cultural Trail – on Delaware Street side and Alabama Street side)
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Horizon House Center will be providing the following services at the center on East Washington Street, including the following, according to the release:
- “Walk-thru” services only (only access services once a day)
- Verbally screening neighbors for COVID-19 symptoms
- Connect neighbors with appointments to Pedigo Clinic
- Provide hygiene kits, socks, other essentials as needed/available
- Distribute mail
- Provide food kit (sandwiches, water bottles, etc.)
- Fill emergency requests for dry clothing
- Provide emergency access to storage bins (i.e. medicine, essential identification documents, etc.)
- Facilitate linkage to shelter as needed/requested
- Crisis management/support
“In many ways, our community is facing unprecedented challenges that affect every resident in Indianapolis,” Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said in the release. “But with circumstances that are continually evolving, we must ensure that we are continually prioritizing our city’s most vulnerable residents.”
From 9 a.m.-noon and 12:30-3 p.m. Monday through Friday, Horizon House's Street Outreach team will be in the community verbally screening people for COVID-19 symptoms, providing hygiene kits and other essentials, and giving food kits and blankets, according to the release. The team will also offer crisis management and support as needed.
