Like most plans to end homelessness, southeastern Indiana’s proposed Vision 2025 of how local social service agencies working together could end homelessness in Clark and Floyd counties didn’t work.
A decade after the 2015 plan was implemented, the collaboration continues as the number of people with no permanent home increases. The 2025 Point in Time homeless count listed 176 homeless people in Clark County, 40 in Floyd and 28 in nearby Jefferson. The state’s Homeless Management Information System shows 275 unsheltered homeless people in Region 13, which includes the three river counties.
Officials in the area say managing homelessness, not making it disappear, is the new goal. But there’s disagreement about how to do it, and another camp in the area is about to be closed by the state.
Searching for shelter space
Leslea Townsend Cronin, executive director of the Homeless Coalition of Southern Indiana, wants to establish an overnight shelter, with day services, for homeless people in Clark and Floyd counties, the two counties her organization serves.
Cronin said she’s confident fundraising and grants could pay most of the cost for a shelter, and she’s working on a sustainable model.
But securing a location has not been easy. There is, she said, “a lot of stigma about homeless shelters.”
“We need an area easily accessible that’s not near residential areas or businesses,” she said. “New Albany would be very supportive if we built it over by Jeffersonville, and Jeffersonville will be supportive if we build it in New Albany, and they both would support putting it in Clarksville.”
Many of the counties’ homeless residents live in wooded camps in and around Jeffersonville in Clark County and New Albany in Floyd County. Six miles separate the cities.
The area has a shelter for women and children and one overnight Christian-based shelter, Catalyst Rescue Mission, with 100 beds.
In the winter, the homeless coalition operates an emergency shelter in the gym at Culbertson Baptist Church when temperatures go below 35 degrees. It used to be staffed by paid employees, but the cost threatened to end the program, so Cronin said they cut staff and brought in volunteers from area churches.
Cronin said it’s time for a year-round shelter that can accommodate more people. “In an ideal world, land would be donated and someone would be willing to build or renovate, whatever needed to happen. The expense will be in the operating costs. I think our community will support us.”
In the meantime, her organization helps direct unhoused people who want roofs over their heads to agencies that provide life skills and support.
She said rent and utility bill assistance, providing food and living necessities and offering a safe place to sleep when it’s cold outside are all important. But those efforts must be combined with securing accessible housing for people who need it.
“We need to hyper focus on the housing part, getting people IDs and helping them get evictions purged and teaching the skills to maintain a home,” Cronin said.
Vacate notice at Exit 0
Her comments came 10 days ahead of an Indiana Department of Transportation plan to bulldoze an established homeless camp just off I-65. The site is at Exit 0, the first I-65 exit ramp this side of the Ohio River, for Jeffersonville.
“Per state law, individuals are not permitted to use state right-of-way for long-term shelter. INDOT remains committed to safety for all Hoosiers and works to minimize unsafe living, driving and working conditions,” INDOT spokesperson Gary Brian said when asked about the camp clearing. “Individuals near I-65 and Eastern Boulevard in Jeffersonville have been given advance notice to vacate state-owned property.”
On Aug. 6, Cronin was unaware of the state’s plan. “We used to have a contract with INDOT where they would notify us of an issue, and we would investigate and support people moving,” she said.
What Brian called “clean-up operations” will begin after the residents have left. “The agency is currently working with law enforcement and local agencies to help individuals find shelter,” he said.
The proposed date, Aug. 13, is the same day state officials is expected to announce the 2026 Point In Time homeless count numbers.
Paul Stensrud, founder of Jeffersonville-based Jesus Cares at Exit 0, has been notified about the Aug. 13 plan. His faith-based outreach has since 2008 provided the basics — meals, showers, laundry access, camping essentials and support services — to help people living in camps and on the streets.
“INDOT reached out … saying they would like our help, that they were coming through to bulldoze for a cleanup. They mentioned the new law and said the area was dangerous, too close to the highway,” said Stensrud, whose brother was homeless and died by suicide.
“The email said they want to keep all Hoosiers safe. And what I say to that is, then why don’t you build a shelter down here for these people?”
Community members who know the camp is getting bulldozed have come forth with money and support, said Stensrud, whose organization depends on the donations. He said getting more than a week’s notice means people have time to pack up and leave.
Volunteers with his organization advised 11 people at the camp one afternoon to gather up valuable possessions and personal paperwork and leave other things behind. Jesus Cares at Exit 0 will provide new camping gear, bedding and other outdoor living items as the homeless move elsewhere.
“Not everybody will go to a shelter and not everybody wants services and we respect that,” Stensrud said. “People are scoping out other areas. People think if you chop down the woods the problem goes away.”
He said homeless people have lived in the patch of woods near the exit ramp over nearly two decades. Last year, the state posted notices to vacate, then came in with bulldozers four months later, Stensrud said. “I raised hell about it. This time, they came to us, and I appreciate the advanced warning.”
Agencies clash
Stensrud and Cronin share a vision of a permanent shelter for southeast Indiana. But a two-year rift between the two organizations impedes reaching that goal. “We walked away from the coalition because they aren’t doing anything. If they were, why are we out here doing the case management?”
Cronin said the homeless coalition is pivoting in that direction, guiding unhoused people seeking help toward a sustainable lifestyle. “We’re laser focused on getting people into housing.”
For now, there’s no housing for the camp’s residents, and many wouldn’t want it if there was.
“We ask for prayers and support as many unhoused individuals will soon be moving into the city of Jeffersonville and the town of Clarksville, seeking refuge and stability,” Stensrud wrote on Facebook.
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FPI News reporter Laura Lane covers the people and issues of rural Indiana. Reach her at 812-760-1540 or laura.lane@fpinews.org.
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