An Indianapolis program that allowed people to sleep in their cars without fear of relocation has abruptly ended.
Safe Park Indy, which launched Oct. 1, 2024, offered free overnight spots in private parking lots for up to 60 days at a time. It was the first initiative of its kind in the state and was intended as a year-long pilot program. People staying in Safe Park Indy spots were provided with resources including bathroom access, hygiene supplies and food.
“Our small organization, unfortunately, lacks the resources to scale beyond our pilot,” the organization’s website said on Aug. 13.
Between five and 20 spots were available nightly, but more than 400 people applied for the program before its waitlist was shut down, according to founder Elizabeth Friedland. More than 1,800 people in Indianapolis were homeless on a given night in Indianapolis as of January 2025, up from 1,700 a year earlier.
“This is a gut punch,” Friedland wrote in a Facebook post on Aug. 12. She said she plans to reach out to nonprofits in the area to see if they’d be able to take on the program moving forward.
“I’m unwilling to let Safe Park Indy die,” Friedland wrote in an email to IndyStar.
Friedland stepped down as Safe Park Indy’s executive director in January 2025, citing the organization’s need for a leader who could “intentionally, full-time steer the organization to success for hopefully many years to come.”
A “document outlining our learnings” will be available at some point in the future, Safe Park Indy’s website said.
The organization was funded entirely by private donors and the closure was not caused by federal cuts to money allotted for nonprofits, Friedland told IndyStar. Donations given to Safe Park Indy after Feb. 15, 2025 will be refunded, the organization’s website said.
The program’s closing comes as Indianapolis leaders plan to clear out homeless camps and relocate their approximately 350 residents to supportive housing, the first part of a multi-year plan called Streets to Home Indy. A low-barrier shelter that will provide 150 overnight beds is not expected to open until 2027.
Ryan Murphy is the communities reporter for IndyStar. She can be reached at rhmurphy@indystar.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: ‘A gut punch’: Indy program that offered parking spots to people living in autos shuts down
Reporting by Ryan Murphy, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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