INDIANAPOLIS — Millions of dollars will now go toward the city's homelessness initiative and infrastructure improvements. Indianapolis City-County Councilors approved funding that will kick in before the 2026 budget takes effect.
"I and others prioritized ensuring that the dollars are there for these homeless initiatives,” Councilor John Barth said.
The growing need in our area brought Indy residents to share their thoughts with the City-County Council.
"A 2025 count showed that 1,815 people in Indianapolis are experiencing homelessness. I support proposal 273 because every person deserves a safe place to stay,” Monroe Brantley, a fifth grader at the Oaks Academy, said.
Indianapolis Councilors on Monday night approved an additional $20 million to fund homelessness initiatives and the design of public infrastructure improvements.
"Housing is a human right, and housing first policies like the Streets to Home Initiative are both the most economically efficient and the most moral ways of dealing with the problem of homelessness," Councilor Jesse Brown said.
The 2026 budget package includes investments to lay the foundation for an additional $100 million in annual road funding beginning in 2027.
"This year has been the deadliest year in Indianapolis on record for cyclists, and yet our Vision Zero task force has failed to meet every deadline that's set for itself, and we've ended up in the full budget for 2026 with a vastly insufficient amount of money for keeping our constituents safe on our streets $20 million is a lot of money," Brown said.
The funding will also help support the second phase of the Streets to Home Indy strategy, a rapid rehousing initiative aiming to end chronic homelessness.
"Many of our neighbors are considered chronically homeless. Chronic homelessness is defined by 12 months unhoused or four episodes of homelessness over three years,” Harmony Street, a student at Decatur Central High School, said.
"I can only imagine the other re-entry houses that may be losing funding and where those individuals will go," Dominique Harris, Founder of KBDB Inc., said.
Streets to Home Initiative recently connected 18 people from the Leonard Street homeless encampment in Fountain Square to permanent housing and supportive services.
