Emergency Services

NOTE:

If you need shelter at Wheeler, you can call the Lighthouse Center at (317) 687-6795 or come to 520 East Market Street, Indianapolis. Click here for a map. Check-in time is from 3PM to 4:30PM daily. Exceptions will be made for first-time guests only.

Emergency Shelter Services

The Mission provides temporary emergency shelter to homeless and/or disadvantaged men. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, showers, clothing, chapel services, case management (with referrals to onsite and offsite social service agencies) are provided. Medical, dental, podiatric and vision services are also available.

Winter Contingency Program

The Winter Contingency Program for the city of Indianapolis is coordinated by Wheeler Mission Ministries. This program ensures that every man, woman and child in the Indianapolis metropolitan area can find a safe place to sleep and a nourishing meal during the cold months. Five months out of the year, November 1 through March 31, outreach teams from various agencies perform “street sweeps” to find the homeless and provide them transportation to one of the shelters in the area. In addition to those who are transported, hundreds of others seek out shelter and food at organizations around town. Wheeler works with all participating agencies to see that their sites are filled to capacity, and then provides overflow lodging and meals to men (at the Downtown Mission ) and women (at the Wheeler Mission Center for Women and Children) when all other area shelters are full.

Marion County Homeless Shelter and Behavioral Health Provider Collaboration

Because no single agency has the resources and expertise needed to comprehensively address the needs of the homeless struggling with mental illness, Wheeler is deeply involved with other shelters, mental and behavioral health agencies, hospitals and law enforcement agencies. More than two dozen of these local agencies work together to collectively provide our clients with the mental health services they need. The Collaboration meets regularly throughout the year, including an all-day planning retreat once a year.

Some of the organizations in the Mental Health/Shelter Provider Collaboration are:

Adult and Child Behavioral Health

Midtown Mental Health Center

Homeless Initiative Program

Horizon House

Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention (CHIP)