INDIANAPOLIS — An overnight warming shelter in Indianapolis is reopening as colder temperatures have returned to the area. FOX59/CBS4’s latest forecast shows lows in the teens for both Sunday night and Monday night. Highs soared to record levels last week, with temperatures even reaching the 70-degree mark on Wednesday.
The return of wintry cold and snow has led the Indianapolis Office of Public Health and Safety (OPHS) to make plans to reopen its overnight warming shelter on West Morris Street. Previous reporting indicates a 24/7 warming shelter on Tibbs Avenue has 160 beds for 40 families and 10 beds for single women. The West Morris Street shelter — which is located inside West Morris Church — has 70 beds for single men and is considered an overflow shelter that opens on an as-needed basis.
Per OPHS, the shelter opens from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. when it is needed. The agency’s standard for opening the shelter is met when overnight low temperatures are forecasted to hit 25 degrees or colder. The shelter can also be activated when the windchill temperature reaches 15 degrees or colder or when the windchill temperature is 25 or colder and there is precipitation.
Multiple concerned citizens called FOX59/CBS4 on Sunday and indicated that the West Morris Street shelter was not open on Sunday, despite low temperatures dipping below 25 degrees. FOX59/CBS4 reached out to OPHS to see if the West Morris Street shelter didn’t open on Sunday. Initially, the agency did not speak to whether or not the shelter opened on Sunday, only reporting that it will be open on Monday.
“The shelter at West Morris Church will open tomorrow night,” OPHS officials wrote. “All other shelters are open tonight.” FOX59/CBS4 sent a crew to West Morris Church Sunday night. That crew found what appeared to be tents pitched inside a lobby or breezeway area inside the church.
In a follow-up message sent to FOX59/CBS4 on Monday, OPHS confirmed that the West Morris Church shelter did not open on Sunday. The agency indicated that the decision to keep the shelter closed was made at 4 p.m. Saturday. OPHS reported that the decision to open the West Morris Church shelter is always made with advanced notice to ensure that Aspire Indiana Health — the entity that operates the shelter — has sufficient time to staff the church and prepare it to function as a shelter.
Officials suggested that weather forecasts issued on Friday night and Saturday morning indicated low temperatures would not drop below the 25-degree threshold Sunday night into Monday morning. The forecast FOX59/CBS4’s weather team released on Friday projected overnight low temperatures Sunday night into Monday morning to hit 21 degrees.
OPHS indicated that the 25-degree rule is part of a pilot overnight warming shelter program it rolled out for the 2025-26 winter season. The agency has indicated that it plans to finetune its protocol for overnight shelters for future winter seasons.
In an interview with FOX59/CBS4, Jeffery Jackson expressed his concerns with the uncertainty that surrounded the West Morris Church shelter Sunday night. Jackson runs a local organization called BRAVEE, which advocates for unhoused individuals.
“I have a lot of emotions about it, especially when it comes to men in our society,” Jackson said. “The only word that can come to mind is disappointed. Like without getting too deep into details about how I feel, it’s frustrating. I could give you a lot there, but I’m disappointed in the city. I’m disappointed in our communities.
“Where are they gonna go? They’re going to be outside with their hand-warmers, with their insulated little sheets that’s keeping them warm. Some of them are sleeping in those wet bags or wet tents. They’re just sleeping on the ground. It’s like, why can’t people just care about something more than themselves at this time or any time, period?”
The Assessment and Intervention Center, located at 2979 East Pleasant Run Parkway North Drive, provides an alternative to the West Morris Church shelter location for unhoused men. The center boasts 30 beds for single men, but previous reporting indicates it is only accessible via referral. The center is considered to be a 24/7 warming shelter.
Other homeless shelters that are also open year-round are options for unhoused individuals hoping to stay warm during colder evening hours. More information on the resources available to unhoused individuals in Indianapolis is available here.
Jackson also advocated for further measures to be taken by OPHS and the City of Indianapolis beyond its current warming shelter system.
“The conditions around the men staying in these shelters, especially for the winter contingency program, I can’t speak for anybody else, but for the winter contingency program, it has to be below 25 degrees and stay there,” Jackson said. “Now, it has rained. It has snowed. Sleeping bags are wet, nothing is dry. We all know what degree hypothermia sets in. We all know what water starts to freeze at. We all know how damaging the cold and wind can be to your skin at 20 degrees.
“To have conditions that don’t allow men to have a safe place to sleep and be warm like tonight is ridiculous. What can we do more as a community?”
The City of Indianapolis encourages families in need of access to a warming shelter to call the Mayor’s Action Center at (317) 327-4622. Hoosiers can also call 211 between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. if they need help finding shelter on cold winter days. Aspire Indiana Health also takes housing-related calls 24/7 at (317) 764-6914.
More information on daytime warming centers that are available in Indianapolis is available here.
