INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Prosperity Indiana applauds Chairman Aaron Freeman (R-Indianapolis) and the members of the Conference Committee for SB 197 for removing from the bill language that would criminalize homelessness in Indiana. However, Prosperity Indiana urges Hoosiers to remain vigilant and warns that the proponents of this dangerous language are actively seeking a new legislative home in the final week of the session of the Indiana General Assembly.

Following thousands of calls and messages to the General Assembly from Prosperity Indiana and the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition's 'Zombie Legislation Action Alert', Chairman Freeman said during the Conference Committee hearing that this was the issue he had heard about the most this session. And while the Committee stripped the criminalization language from the bill. Senator Ron Alting (R-Lafayette) (who had previously pledged to remove the language) made an impassioned speech urging Hoosiers and his fellow legislators to beware of efforts to bring this legislation back in the final days of the session. 

This 'zombie' legislative language has now failed in HB 1662 and SB 197, and has never been allowed public testimony in any bill that is still alive. This legislation makes being too poor to afford housing a Class C Misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. This is not only cruel, it will further increase the barriers to housing for those in need by involving them in the judicial system. The zombie legislation is opposed by law enforcement, including the Indiana Sheriff's Association; veterans' groups, including Helping Veterans and Families (HVAF); and many housing and homelessness organizations, including Prosperity Indiana and the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition. 

"It was a relief to see the criminalization of homelessness language removed from SB 197, although we know the work isn't done because that language could still reappear in another bill," said Andrew Bradley, Senior Director of Policy and Strategy for Prosperity Indiana. "Members of the housing, law enforcement, veterans', and faith communities agree: the criminalization of homelessness debate should be over for the 2025 session. Bringing back this zombie language would be bad process, as has this issue never been allowed public testimony in the Senate, or in any bill that's still alive. But more importantly, it's bad policy to create a new Class C Misdemeanor and force local law enforcement to jail Hoosiers up to 60 days and fine them $500 for not being able to afford a place to lay their head, without any promise of services or housing on the other side."

Prosperity Indiana and the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition will continue to monitor bills moving through the session and advocate that NO BILL BECOME LAW that includes the Criminalization of Homelessness language. We urge all Hoosiers to reach out to their House and Senate lawmakers with our ZOMBIE BILL ACTION ALERT. 

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About Prosperity Indiana

The Indiana Association for Community Economic Development d/b/a Prosperity Indiana builds a better future for our communities by providing advocacy, leveraging resources, and engaging an empowered network of members to create inclusive opportunities that build assets and improve lives. Since its founding in 1986, Prosperity Indiana’s network has grown to nearly 200 organizations, representing thousands of practitioners statewide from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – The Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition expresses extreme disappointment and alarm over language added to SB 197 at the very last minute, which would charge people experiencing homelessness with a Class C Misdemeanor merely for sleeping outside. This language was amended into the bill during a committee hearing without public notice or the opportunity for public testimony or input. The Coalition urges lawmakers to quickly remove this Class C Misdemeanor from SB 197 and to abandon any future efforts to criminalize homelessness.  During the final meeting of the House Judiciary Committee on April 7, the committee added Amendment #6 (titled ‘Use of public land’) to a bill on an unrelated and not germane topic, the Unsafe building law. The bill was then passed out of committee by a 7-3 vote with no opportunity for public testimony.   SB 197 now “[m]akes it a Class C misdemeanor for a person to use public property of the state or a political subdivision for purposes of sleeping or camping”, whether there is housing and services available or not. A Class C Misdemeanor carries a maximum penalty of up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.  Furthermore, the bill puts the burden of enforcing this new crime on local law enforcement who are already experiencing staffing shortages and jail overcrowding. The bill would also place an undue burden on smaller and more rural counties, as nearly half of all counties reported to the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority in 2024 that they have insufficient resources to serve unhoused people.  The Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition firmly believes that criminalization of homelessness is the wrong path to respond to homelessness in Indiana. It does harm and in cities that have implemented making sleeping outside a crime and further exacerbates the homelessness issue. This approach ties the hands of local jurisdictions to do what they need to do to effectively address unsheltered homelessness. Failing to allow public testimony on this bill rejects the Hoosier value of transparency, and this issue is not germane to the bill to which it was inserted. Bottom line: our counties need the resources to help those experiencing homelessness, and this amendment places undue burden on local law enforcement, jails, and hospitals that are not equipped to play the role of homelessness experts in this misguided approach. Instead, we should rely on street outreach professionals, clinicians, and those working every day to effectively serve those experiencing homelessness.  "We have been at the table and more than willing to work with legislators to offer common sense solutions to effectively address unsheltered homelessness,” said  Dr. Chelsea Haring-Cozzi, Executive Director of CHIP and a HHNC Steering Committee member. “Criminalization is not a common-sense solution - it diverts critical resources away from services and housing and only prolongs someone's homelessness. There is no evidence that it has worked anywhere else and an abundance of evidence that housing with robust services does. Strong and safe communities start with stable housing. Let's make the smart and right decisions for our most vulnerable neighbors. Fines and jail are not the right nor smart solution." "The 'housing wage' needed to afford to a modest home is rising much faster than the average renter's wages, pricing too many Hoosier families out of housing and into homelessness," said Andrew Bradley, Senior Director of Policy and Strategy for Prosperity Indiana and a HHNC Steering Committee member. "Criminalizing homelessness not only adds a criminal record to the Hoosiers whose jobs no longer pay the rent, but it also puts the burden of enforcement on local law enforcement while draining community services. Lawmakers must remove the Class C Misdemeanor from SB 197 and instead focus on strategies to align funding and resources to restore the supply and affordability of housing in Indiana." The Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition calls on lawmakers to remove the Class C Misdemeanor from SB 197 and to avoid the path of the criminalization of homelessness in any future legislation. The Coalition remains committed to continuing the necessary work of ending homelessness and stands ready to assist in policy efforts to that end, but this is not the answer.

### About the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition: Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition (HHNC) was formed by members of Indiana’s housing security advocacy community in April 2020 to support advocacy and education related to housing and homelessness prevention. HHNC convenes partners from across Indiana to advocate for immediate, medium- and long-term housing stability policy solutions and conduct education and research to achieve federal, state, and local policies.

Hoosier Renters Face a Dire Shortage of Affordable Homes and High Cost Burdens Amid Unprecedented Attacks on Housing Assistance

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – In 2025 Indiana has a gap of 137,427 affordable and available homes that are needed for the state’s 220,399 extremely low-income (ELI) households. Indiana's rate of fewer than 38 rental homes available for every 100 of the most vulnerable Hoosier households is below average for the Midwest and among all U.S. states. In addition, more than 74% of Indiana’s ELI renter households spend half or more of their incomes on housing costs. This rate of severe housing cost burden is the 3rd-highest rate in the Midwest and 10th-highest among all U.S. states. 

These are findings from a new report produced by Prosperity Indiana and the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC). The report also finds a national shortage of 7.1 million affordable and available rental homes for extremely low-income renter households – those with incomes at or below the poverty level or 30% of their area median income, whichever is greater - resulting in just 35 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households nationwide. The report and findings from The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes come amid unprecedented attacks on federal housing assistance programs and the agencies that administer them. 

Read the full report on Housing4Hoosiers.org/2025/03/13/Gap-Report-2025/ or by clicking here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Hale Crumley | Policy Manager | hcrumley@prosperityindiana.org 

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – On February 20, Representative Michelle Davis’s (District 58) House Bill 1662 ‘State and Local Policies on Homelessness’ was called down to the House floor for third reading and was passed on by the bill author. Because that day was the third reading deadline, House Bill 1662 is now technically a dead bill. This is cause for cautious celebration amongst the hundreds of Prosperity Indiana members and Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition partners who have consistently and overwhelmingly risen up in opposition to this bill, which would have criminalized the act of being homeless in public.

“When a bill is scheduled for a vote but gets passed on, it’s often because the bill  does not have the support needed to move forward in the legislative process. We believe this language was right to not pass the House of Representatives because it is extreme, illogical, and even counterproductive to solving homelessness,” says Hale Crumley, Policy Manager with Prosperity Indiana. “Prosperity Indiana is extremely grateful to our members and partners for making their thoughts known to their state legislators through testimony, calls, and messages, and we are similarly grateful to the members of the House for listening to Hoosier experts instead of out-of-state thinktanks.”

While House Bill 1662 is no longer in play as a standalone bill, it is likely that the lobbyists fighting for the legislation will work to find another bill that the language can be inserted into via an amendment. This is a relatively common practice at the Indiana General Assembly, hence the saying, “It’s not over until Sine Die,” referring to the final adjournment of the legislative session which will take place in late April. 

Nonetheless, the defeat of House Bill 1662 in the House is a meaningful victory for the advocates who worked closely on it. Dr. Chelsea Haring-Cozzi, Executive Director of the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention adds, “Today was an important step in our collective work to focus on real solutions to unsheltered homelessness. We are so proud of how the community showed up to advocate for our neighbors experiencing homelessness and demanded we do better. We stand together with the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition and stand firm in our belief and in the evidence that housing and services is how we end homelessness. Fining and jailing vulnerable people for systemic failures is never the solution.”

The House and the Senate will be taking the week of February 24 – 28 off to rest, recuperate, and reassess where things lay now that an important bill deadline has passed. During this time, many policymakers will return to their home districts across the state where practitioners and citizens will have the chance  to continue to apply pressure so that the homelessness criminalization legislative language stays dead. Check here to find nearby opportunities to engage with your legislators.

“No matter where you are in Indiana, House Bill 1662 would have affected your community and the most vulnerable people in it. The official bill may be dead for now, but we all need to remain alert until the end of the legislative session,” summarizes Jennifer Layton, President and CEO of Lafayette Transitional Housing Center.

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About Prosperity Indiana

The Indiana Association for Community Economic Development d/b/a Prosperity Indiana builds a better future for our communities by providing advocacy, leveraging resources, and engaging an empowered network of members to create inclusive opportunities that build assets and improve lives. Since its founding in 1986, Prosperity Indiana’s network has grown to nearly 200 organizations, representing thousands of practitioners statewide from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

About the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition

The Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition (HHNC) was formed by members of Indiana’s housing security advocacy community in April 2020 to support advocacy and education related to housing and homelessness prevention. HHNC convenes partners from across Indiana to advocate for housing stability & affordability, tenant protections, and housing equity.

Rebuilding Housing and Economic Opportunity for all Hoosiers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.  January 8, 2025 — Prosperity Indiana, a leading advocate for affordable housing and community development, announced its 2025 Policy Agenda, designed to address the pressing challenges facing Hoosiers in the areas of housing attainability and economic opportunity. As Indiana reaches a crossroads, the state faces a distinct disadvantage compared to many Midwest neighbors, with declining housing stock, limited economic opportunities, and increasing disparities. The 2025 Policy Agenda provides a strategic and comprehensive approach to rebuild housing stability and foster equitable economic development across the state. With only 34 affordable and available homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households – the second-lowest rate in the Midwest – and an 11% increase in homelessness, the need for action is urgent. Homeownership rates have declined, particularly among Black Hoosier households, and rising eviction rates have led to growing housing instability. Additionally, the state's economic mobility is decreasing, as more of Indiana's largest occupations no longer meet the wage needed to afford a modest two-bedroom home. The 2025 Policy Agenda outlines critical steps to address these issues at the state, federal, and local levels. Urgent & Emerging Policy Priorities Increase the supply, access, and habitability of affordable housing in rental and sales, and act to combat growing signs of housing instability among current renters and homeowners. Reverse state preemptions that reduce local options on policies such as tenant protections, source of income protections, inclusionary zoning, affordable housing development, and revenue for struggling communities. Defend against attacks on diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice that reduce barriers to homeownership, wealth building, and policies that support environmental, social, and governance progress. Support policies that increase wealth-building (i.e. the Child Tax Credit and Individual Development Accounts) and decrease wealth-stripping (i.e. through predatory lending, medical debt, and junk fees) for individuals and communities. Advocate for increased investments for Community Economic Development organizations and equitable tax policies in federal and state budgets in 2025. Keep Hoosiers stably housed in order to reverse increasing rates of homelessness and housing instability, and increase investments in proven solutions including Housing First. Affordable Housing Priorities Support the rehabilitation and preservation of Indiana’s current stock of affordable housing through owner-occupied rehabilitation and the expansion of low-income housing tax credits. Increase the supply of affordable housing for the communities and populations most in need, including by protecting the housing stock from purchase and neglect by out-of-state corporate investors. Address the increasing costs of producing affordable and accessible housing, including rising construction and insurance costs. Strengthen tenant protections for Hoosiers, including through expansion of abilities to enforce housing health and safety standards efficiently and timely. Work to end housing discrimination and ‘NIMBYism’, promote more inclusive communities, and create new pathways to achieve and sustain homeownership including through improved fair housing and inclusionary zoning standards. Community Development Resources Expand funding and access for homeowner repair programs for seniors, families with disabilities, and long-time residents to combat displacement and loss of wealth-building. Increase the scope and availability of tax credit resources to expand affordable housing for low-income households and make it easier for community economic development organizations, including smaller and non-profit entities, to qualify and participate. Support the introduction of new community development resources for Indiana, such as a CDFI fund, New Market Tax Credit, or Community Investment Tax Credit to provide flexible capital for impactful community development efforts. Reduce Indiana’s disproportionate property tax burden on low-income households and on non-profit community economic development organizations. Enhance opportunities and reduce barriers impacting community land trust programs to permanently preserve affordability and create homeownership opportunities for lower-income families. Reform Indiana’s tax sale process and increase resources for land banks to address vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties while protecting homeowner equity. Asset Building and Consumer Protections Support policies that increase equitable wealth-building (i.e. Child Tax Credits and Child Savings Accounts, and down payment assistance). Reduce the ‘cliff effect’ that occurs when public assistance benefits are suddenly and unexpectedly reduced or eliminated. Establish a maximum 36% APR rate cap for payday loans at the state and federal levels. Promote healthy communities and protect families from the damages of medical debt, including by strengthening consumer protections, expanding enrollment for Medicaid, and/or requiring hospitals to adopt robust Financial Assistance Policies. Encourage robust state and federal consumer protection rules and regulations, including through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's consumer education, rules, enforcement, and compliance. Prosperity Indiana urges policymakers at all levels to consider these critical priorities as they shape legislation and initiatives for the benefit of Hoosier communities. For more information on Prosperity Indiana's 2025 Policy Agenda, visit ProsperityIndiana.org/Policy-Priorities or contact Senior Director of Policy & Strategy Andrew Bradley.

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About Prosperity Indiana Prosperity Indiana is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization formed in 1986 as the Indiana Association for Community Economic Development. PI is a network of approximately 200 organizations and individual members committed to advancing community economic development through our values of eliminating barriers, ensuring everyone has better opportunities to pursue the American Dream and prosperity for all.    Visit the Prosperity Indiana website and follow @ProsperityInd on Twitter.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Candidates for Indiana Governor, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives have detailed their plans to address Indiana’s most challenging housing and economic opportunity issues in their answers to Prosperity Indiana’s 2024 Housing and Economic Opportunity Election Questionnaire.

Prosperity Indiana, the only statewide network for Indiana’s community economic development organizations, released the questionnaire as part of the association’s ‘Our Homes, Our Votes Indiana 2024’ nonpartisan voter education and candidate engagement campaign. The content of the questionnaire was adapted from the national Our Homes, Our Votes campaign's candidate engagement resources, in consultation with the Prosperity Indiana Policy Committee and the steering committees of the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition and the Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network. All candidates for Indiana Governor, U.S. Senator and U.S. House seats were contacted and invited to provide their answers to questions addressing issues of housing stability and affordability, pathways to achieving and sustaining homeownership, and equitable economic opportunity policies. At least two candidates for each level of office (Governor, Senator, and U.S. House) provided answers, including responses from four of Indiana’s nine Congressional districts. Responses reflect answers from Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, and independent candidates. All candidates’ responses are presented below in full.

In addition to the questionnaire responses below, the Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian candidates for Indiana Governor responded to questions about housing affordability and homeownership inspired by ‘Housing Hoosiers’, the policy brief written by Prosperity Indiana for the Indiana University Public Policy Institute’s 2024 Gubernatorial Candidates Forum series.

Indiana Governor 

Mike Braun – see responses 

Jennifer G. McCormick – see responses 

Donald Rainwater – did not respond 

Christopher Ryan Stried – see responses 

 

U.S. Senate

Antonio Xavier Alvarez – did not respond 

Jim Banks – did not respond 

Phillip D. Beachy (Phil) – did not respond 

Andrew Horning – see responses

Valerie McCray – see responses 

 

U.S. House of Representatives 

District 1 

Dakotah Miskus – did not respond 

Frank J. Mrvan – did not respond 

Randy Niemeyer – did not respond 

 

District 2 

Lori A. Camp – see responses

William E. Henry – did not respond 

Michael John Hubbard – did not respond 

Rudy Yakym – did not respond 

 

District 3 

Kiley M. Adolph – did not respond 

Jared Lancaster – did not respond 

Marlin A. Stutzman – did not respond

 

District 4 

Jim Baird – did not respond 

Ashley Groff – did not respond 

Derrick Holder – did not respond 

 

District 5 

Deborah A Pickett – did not respond 

Lauri Shillings – did not respond 

Robby Slaughter – see responses 

Victoria Spartz – did not respond 

 

District 6 

James Michael Sceniak – did not respond 

Jefferson Shreve – did not respond 

Cynthia (Cinde) Wirth – did not respond 

 

District 7 

André Carson – did not respond 

Rusty Johnson – see responses 

John P. Schmitz – did not respond 

 

District 8 

K. Richard Fitzlaff – did not respond 

Erik Hurt – did not respond 

Mark Messmer – did not respond 

 

District 9  

Russell (Russ) Brooksbank – did not respond 

Erin Houchin – did not respond 

Timothy (Tim) Peck – did not respond 

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About Prosperity Indiana

The Indiana Association for Community Economic Development d/b/a Prosperity Indiana builds a better future for our communities by providing advocacy, leveraging resources, and engaging an empowered network of members to create inclusive opportunities that build assets and improve lives. Since its founding in 1986, Prosperity Indiana’s network has grown to nearly 200 organizations, representing thousands of practitioners statewide from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

Prosperity Indiana Informing Indiana Governor’s Race on Housing, Property Tax Issues INDIANAPOLIS, IN – As part of its ongoing Our Homes, Our Votes initiative, Prosperity Indiana and partners have contributed to voter education and candidate engagement in the race for Indiana Governor. This includes a PI-authored report on ‘Housing Hoosiers’ for the Indiana University Public Policy Institute’s Gubernatorial Candidates Forum, and a ‘Hoosier Property Taxes 101’ event co-hosted with the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute that included analysis from state and national experts on the candidates’ property tax Ireform proposals.

Image: Indiana University Public Policy Institute

From the Indiana University Public Policy Institute’s news release: “[The report ‘Housing Hoosiers’] authored by Prosperity Indiana, explores housing in Indiana and provides policy recommendations for improving housing security by addressing housing availability, state housing laws, housing instability, and homelessness.  Indiana has a deficit of nearly 140,000 affordable and available rental homes. There are 34 units available for every 100 of the lowest-income households—the second-lowest rate in the Midwest.  More than 90% of Hoosier households with yearly incomes of more than $150,000 are homeowners, while less than 40% of Hoosier households earning less than $20,000 annually own their homes.  Hoosiers working full time would need to earn, on average, $22.07/hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment, up $3.07 from 2023. But, in Indiana, the average renter makes only $17.92/hour, which increased just six cents from 2023.”  The report is part of PPI’s Decision 2024: Your Voices, Your Future project, and helped inform their Indiana Gubernatorial Candidates Forum meant to help voters learn where each candidate stands on our most important issues without distractions that come with debates.    Hear the candidates for Governor answer questions inspired by PI’s report, including on issues of affordable renting and homeownership. Watch the full Forum here and see coverage of candidates’ housing answers from Indiana Public Media.

Image: Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute

In addition, PI co-hosted the event Hoosier Property Taxes 101 - A Historical Perspective and Conversation About Where We Go From Here with the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute and hosted by the Indiana Farm Bureau. Legislators, advocates, and community members in attendance learned how Indiana's tax policy compares to other states and how proposed property tax reform policies will impact Hoosier taxpayers and local government services in the future. Panel experts from Purdue University, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, and the Indiana Association of REALTORS discussed original research and provided their analysis on the property tax proposals of the candidates for Indiana Governor.  Find the discussion slides, reports, and other event resources on IFPI’s publications page, and see coverage from the event from the Indiana Capital Chronicle and Indiana Public Broadcasting News.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – To help members and partners elevate issues of housing and economic opportunity in the 2024 election, Prosperity Indiana has released a set of new voter education and candidate engagement tools. These tools include new data on Indiana’s housing affordability crisis made available for the first time at the state House and Senate district level. These resources are part of Prosperity Indiana’s partnership with the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s Our Homes, Our Votes 2024 campaign. 

Our Homes, Our Votes is a nonpartisan campaign to register, educate, and mobilize low-income renters and affordable housing advocates to vote. Renters, especially low-income renters, are underrepresented among voters. To build the political will for housing solutions, it is critical that organizations that work directly with low-income renters--including nonprofits, housing providers, and tenant associations--mobilize renters and other low-income people to vote. Prosperity Indiana is Indiana’s Our Homes, Our Votes affiliate organization. 

The Our Homes, Our Votes resources below are meant to aid Indiana’s community economic development organizations, coalition partners, and other community members in voter registration, education, and candidate engagement. A pair of webinars and related slides from September 2024 provide an overview of the resources available. In addition, Prosperity Indiana has sent a questionnaire on housing and economic opportunity issues to all candidates for office running for Indiana Governor and U.S. House and Senate seats, and will publish the results at ProsperityIndiana.org in mid-October. 

Webinars 

Nonpartisan Voter Registration: A How-To for IN Nonprofits Slide decks: League of Women Voters, Prosperity Indiana 

Nonpartisan Candidate Engagement: A How-To for IN Nonprofits Slide deck: National Low Income Housing Coalition and Prosperity Indiana 

Data Resources 

NEW The Gap-Indiana 2024 State Legislative District Maps 

The Gap-Indiana 2024 state report 

Indiana Congressional District Housing Profiles 

Out of Reach-Indiana 2024 

Who Pays?-Indiana 2024 

Tools & Materials 

Prosperity Indiana Our Homes, Our Votes Candidate Questionnaire 

Our Homes, Our Votes national campaign resources 

Federal Voter Registration Form: English, Haitian Creole, Spanish 

2024 Election Calendar Brochure 

2024 Election Checklist 

2024 Election Info Brochure 

Craft Your Message Worksheet 

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About Prosperity Indiana 

The Indiana Association for Community Economic Development d/b/a Prosperity Indiana builds a better future for our communities by providing advocacy, leveraging resources, and engaging an empowered network of members to create inclusive opportunities that build assets and improve lives. Since its founding in 1986, Prosperity Indiana’s network has grown to nearly 200 organizations, representing thousands of practitioners statewide from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. 

Prosperity Indiana and the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition are excited to announce the launch of a brand new resource in our ongoing efforts to address homelessness in Indiana. Policy Manager Hale Crumley has developed a comprehensive toolkit aimed at equipping advocates and partners with the necessary tools and knowledge to tackle an emerging and pressing issue: policies that make it even harder to be homeless than it already is.

At the heart of this toolkit is a training series that focuses on the housing first approach—a proven solution to homelessness—and the challenges it faces, including those posed by out-of-state organizations like the Cicero Institute. Originally conducted live, these training sessions are now accessible on YouTube, offering a flexible learning option to complement the toolkit. We've also created an abbreviated version of the toolkit to serve as an informational packet you can give directly to legislators when advocating.

Prosperity Indiana’s goal with this initiative is to empower Hoosier advocates to engage constructively with state and local policymakers on these topics. By arming ourselves with a deep understanding of the proven housing first approach, we aim to steer clear of policies that criminalize homelessness and instead foster environments that prioritize supportive and sustainable solutions.

To access this resource and join us in advocating for change, view the toolkit here. Together, we can make a difference in ending homelessness and building a more inclusive Indiana.

View the Toolkit here.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – In a disappointing ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that arresting or fining homeless individuals for sleeping outside when they have nowhere else to go does not violate the Constitution. This ruling sets a dangerous precedent for the thousands of Hoosiers experiencing homelessness in our state and for all the families who are just one missed paycheck away from homelessness. 

“CHIP is deeply saddened and angered by the Supreme Court ruling that it is ok to arrest or fine people experiencing homelessness for sleeping outside when there is no alternative,” said Dr. Chelsea Haring-Cozzi, the Executive Director of CHIP, the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention & Prevention, and a Prosperity Indiana member. “This sets a dangerous precedent and will only worsen homelessness in cities across the country. Homelessness is not a criminal issue and should not be addressed as such. We call on our local and state officials to focus on housing solutions and to not be swayed by this ruling. We must do the smart and right thing here in Indiana for our most vulnerable Hoosiers,” said Haring-Cozzi. 

This decision makes it easier to jail or fine homeless people for sleeping outside, which will exacerbate homelessness. Communities must now work even harder to focus on housing and other proven solutions to homelessness, despite the ruling. It is critical to understand that punitive measures like jails and fines only worsen the situation. 

“The increase of Hoosiers experiencing homelessness is directly correlated with the rising cost to afford rent, which takes $22.07 per hour in 2024, up $3 in just the past year. At the same time, the supply of affordable and available rental housing has declined in Indiana to only 34 affordable and available units for every 100 extremely low income households, the second lowest rate in the Midwest,” said Andrew Bradley, Senior Director of Policy and Strategy at Prosperity Indiana. 

“In light of the Supreme Courts’s decision in Johnson v. Grants Pass, it’s clear that Indiana’s state and local policymakers must not respond to the increase in housing cost and the decrease in supply by punishing and criminalizing vulnerable Hoosiers experiencing homelessness. Instead, Indiana’s elected officials must work together to increase the supply of safe, affordable housing, preserve the housing stock we already have, and invest in local practitioners of the proven Housing First model to permanently reduce homelessness,” said Bradley.

Despite this setback, Prosperity Indiana and its members remain committed to supporting all Hoosiers amidst our worsening housing crisis. 

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About Prosperity Indiana

The Indiana Association for Community Economic Development d/b/a Prosperity Indiana builds a better future for our communities by providing advocacy, leveraging resources, and engaging an empowered network of members to create inclusive opportunities that build assets and improve lives. Since its founding in 1986, Prosperity Indiana’s network has grown to nearly 200 organizations, representing thousands of practitioners statewide from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.