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'There are people who help': Safe Park Indy expanding to help more people experiencing homelessness

INDIANAPOLIS - A program helping people experiencing homelessness is expanding after just a few months.

Safe Park Indy allows people living in their cars to have a free and safe place to stay along with a number of other amenities. The original lot is on the northeast side of Indianapolis and the new location will open on the north side this January. 

Our FOX59/CBS4 team spoke with one of Safe Park Indy’s first clients, learning about his experience in the new program. 

“I was very much like, 'Oh my gosh, what am I going to do,’” said Tyler Pittman, a former Safe Park Indy client.

Pittman came to Safe Park Indy after losing his job. He had no place to stay and nobody to turn to. 

“Being able to come here and just have that little ray of hope kept me on the path that I needed to stay on,” he said.

During the day, Pittman would look for work.

“I went to the library,” he said. “I think I rewrote my resume eight times. [It was] job, job, job spam of job applications, all day long.”

And at night he'd have a safe place to sleep in his car.

“It was another big weight lifted off my shoulders,” he said. “I am warm. I am safe. I am fed. Once I get those three things out of the way it's much much easier to worry about the other things in life that you need to worry about.”

Pittman is just one of many people who have benefitted from Safe Park Indy which officially launched this past October. It’s the first program of its kind in Indiana. 

”People are eager to find a solution to homelessness and this is a stop-gap measure but people want to participate in ending people's suffering,” said Emily Wachner, the community partnerships director for Safe Park Indy.

Clients get a free and safe place to stay overnight plus a community space open at certain hours with food, water, hygiene products and more.

“There are people in the community that care about this vulnerable population,” Pittman said. “There are people who help. That has just been very gratifying.”

The program had immediate interest. After its recent success, a new location is opening on the north side in just a few weeks. Meanwhile, the wait list for the program continues to grow.

“Within the first week of Safe Park Indy offering safe parking, we had a waitlist of over 100,” Wachner said. “Now a few months later, our wait list has grown to 350. The need increases as does the awareness for our organization.”

Pittman has since moved on from the program and has a new full-time job so another spot has opened up for someone on the waitlist. He hopes whoever comes next can see the benefits of a program like this one.

“Don’t be afraid to ask for help,” Pittman said. “It’s okay. Everyone needs help every once in a while. Some of us need more help than others but it's okay to ask for help and if you ask, there are people everywhere, there are many, many, many more people out there that are willing to help than you may even know about.”

The hope is the program will continue expanding throughout the Circle City and beyond. The goal is to open up at least four locations by the end of the program’s first year but likely even more. Safe Park Indy is always looking for donations and volunteers. To learn more about the program and how to donate, click here.


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