INDIANAPOLIS — Local homeless shelters across Indianapolis are seeing an increase in need this winter season, and with more cold weather on the way, they're expecting the demand for their services to continue to grow.
“Most guys just want out of the cold, that’s all they want," Michael Lema, Director of Wheeler Mission Shelter for Men, exclaimed.
Places like Wheeler Mission have been helping people for years, especially those in need of a warm place to stay during cold winter days, like we saw on Monday. This year, however, Lema told WRTV their numbers have grown, and they expect to see the same as the cold weather continues.
“We wanna make sure that folks are not dying on our streets," Andrew Merkley, Director of the Office of Public Health and Safety, stated.
That's the goal of these shelters.
“Whether they’re getting an official bed or they’re at one of our emergency overflow mats... they’re just grateful to be in and out of the weather," Lema said.
They've seen it a lot already this year.
“When we see a quick change in the weather like this, what we typically see is, we see a huge spike in attendance or a spike in guys wanting to get in," Lema explained.
The shelter has 250 beds and 50 emergency mats. Lema said they tend to fill up quickly on nights like this.
“Pretty much as soon as the winter contingency started for the city, we hit capacity almost right away," he said.
This year, the city also opened three winter contingency shelters to help with the capacity issues places like Wheeler Mission were having. Merkley told WRTV they've seen the same issues; however, when it comes to more and more people needing a place to stay.
“We are at capacity at our family and women’s shelter and we have been at capacity since probably that first week that we opened," he stated. "We’ve also seen an increase in the utilization of our men's facilities."
Merkley said, as of Dec. 15, the city has served 123 men and 76 families in these overflow shelters.
“When we had our last cold snap, we were at capacity," he explained. "It demonstrates that we need to get folks into housing and get them off the streets.”
With even more cold weather on the way, both shelters are expecting to see even more walk through their doors.
“I would foresee as we go through this cold snap this week that we will be at or near capacity each night," Merkley stated.
“There’s definitely a bump in the population in the area," Lema said. "We’re doing our best to care for everybody that’s out there.”
The shelters operate on a first-come, first-served basis. However, if you show up after they reach capacity, they will give you referrals for other places in the area.
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Casey Zanowic is the In Your Community reporter for North Side Indy. She joined WRTV in July of 2025. Casey has a passion for storytelling and is ready to showcase impactful stories that make a difference in her community. Share your story ideas and important issues with Casey by emailing her at casey.zanowic@wrtv.com.
