INDIANAPOLIS -- The Wheeler Mission had its first day under capacity in almost a year last month. The shelter says it's worried about what that means the next time there's severe winter weather.
The non-profit's new men's shelter opened in 2014 at the intersection of Market and East streets. It includes kitchen facilities, communal areas and 232 beds for homeless men.
Before a day late last month, the last time Wheeler actually had fewer than 232 men staying at the shelter was June 2016.
That means for nearly a year, people have been sleeping on the floor.
"We've actually got people on the floor year-round because at our center for women and children, we have women in our gymnasium literally every night of the year, and children as well," said Rick Alvis, Wheeler's president and CEO. "We're always way over capacity there."
Residents at Wheeler Mission get their own bed, and access to showers, counseling and recreation areas. When it hits capacity, staff pull out mats to sleep people on the floor, if necessary.
Alvis said when Wheeler opened the new shelter, it thought it wouldn't have to worry about overcrowding for five years, at least. That turned out not to be the case.
"We had 90 men on Dec. 1, 2014," he said. "We're thinking: 232 beds, we have lots of room to grow into. We're thinking five years before we have to address any further expansion. Dec. 1 of 2015, we had exactly double that 90 to 180. You do the math and you're still under the 232. So we're feeling pretty good, but we're getting a little nervous. Well, on Dec. 1 of 2016, we had exactly double again at 360 people. That's 130 people on the floor."
Indianapolis has been fortunate to see mild winters over the past two years. Alvis says he's worried about what happens if this year sees another "polar vortex" similar to years past.
"Before we expanded here, when we had some real cold nights, people actually stood up in the mission just to get them in out of the cold," Alvis said. "That was better than freezing to death."
During the winter, Wheeler regularly sleeps around 700 people a night between all of its locations. Alvis says what the non-profit really needs is another facility that can serve as temporary or emergency sleeping space in case of a winter weather emergency.
"What we really need is a building where we could sleep people temporarily on mats, just to get them in out of the cold," Alvis said. "So we're looking for that, whether it's a church that could have some facilities available – could be a warehouse even, you know, just to get people in out of the cold."
On top of that, the shelter would be looking at additional resources for supervising and feeding the extra people.
Alvis said he's hopeful that the shelter won't see its numbers double again by December, but that he doesn't want to wait until then to prepare.
"We're really at a critical stage in this point in our history in terms of providing for the homeless folks who are out on the street at winter time," he said.
For more information about how you can help, visit The Wheeler Mission Ministries online.
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