Wheeler Mission

Located in Indianapolis, the Wheeler Mission Center for Women and Children currently has around 80 beds, but the building is undergoing construction in order to expand to 100 beds. Photo by Lily Thomas.

Lending a helping hand

Organizations, clubs provide volunteer oppurtunites to assist homeless

Lily Thomas thomalil000@hsestudents.org

On any given day, 5,471 people experience homelessness in Indiana, as reported by Continuums of Care to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in January 2019. Marion County alone accounts for 1,567 of those people, according to the Wheeler Mission website. The causes of homelessness varies, but according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, common causes include a lack of nancial stability, escaping domestic violence and systemic inequality.

Wheeler Mission

With three locations in Indianapolis, the Wheeler Mission provides basic necessities and shelter to the poor and homeless populations of central Indiana. They are also religiously a liated with non-denominational Christianity, and work with multiple local churches that share their concerns on poverty and homelessness. “We say the word homeless and we think that everybody’s story is exactly the same,” Volunteer Engagement Manager for Women’s Services Tammy Caldwell said. “We know that everyone is di erent and everyone has di erent needs when they come to Wheeler. Our goal is to meet them where they’re at and so we listen and try to meet the needs that they have.” On average, the Wheeler Mission feeds about 1,000 people, according to Caldwell. For Thanksgiving, Wheeler o ers dinner and has a meal prep week that volunteers can partake before Thanksgiving. Caldwell mentioned that this year, Wheeler is asking previous volunteers to come back and serve during the holidays and onwards. “If you want to have a meaningful impact on someone’s life, you have to be in their life,” Caldwell said. “So just to show up once, it’s not going to be that meaningful for the guest, but if you want it to be meaningful for them then you need to become a regular [volunteer].” 1

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1. A welcome sign posted at the entrance of the Wheeler Mission Center for Women and Children. The sign mentions their ties to Christianity. 2. The Wheeler Mission has shelves of boxes that include donated items such as menstrual products, Kleenex, makeup and more. Photos by Lily Thomas.

Money Fundraising or individual donations Toiletries Soap, feminine hygiene products, toothbrushes

Time Volunteer with friends or family

Food Pre-packaged and unexpired Toys For younger children

Baby Care Diapers, strollers, carriers, car seats All icons are by Font Awesome licensed under CC BY 4.0. A copy of the license can be found at fontawesome.com/ license. Infographic by Lily Thomas

Skills Use your talents to help local shelters Clothing Especially warm clothes in cold areas School Notebooks, binders, writing instruments

All icons are by Font Awesome licensed under CC BY 4.0. There are several volunteer opportunities throughout A copy of the license can be found at fontawesome.com/license the Wheeler Mission; Caldwell recommends meal service as a starting point, but other volunteer positions include helping at the donation center, thri store and more. A list of open volunteer spots can be found at wheelervolunteer.org. On Nov. 26, Wheeler will host the Drumstick Dash both in-person and virtually. The proceeds help provide meals and services to the homeless in the community.

Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention

The Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention, also known as CHIP, is a community response organization that primarily focuses on funding homeless shelters and advocating for national policy changes to help the homeless population. “Our main goal is to end homelessness here in Marion County and Indianapolis,” Director of Engagement and Strategic Initiatives Tom Tuttle said. “We kind of say this through ‘our goal is to make homelessness rare, short-lived and recoverable.’” There are two paths in terms of volunteer options: skills-based volunteering such as marketing strategies, or hands-on involvement with the homeless. Hands-on involvement can range from building necessity kits or helping with CHIP events. Upcoming events include a panel about ending youth homelessness on Nov. 17 and an annual awards gala in December.

Getting involved locally

The Students in Action Club puts on multiple service projects each year. Some projects for this school year include a canned food drive and a donation drive. “Students in Action is trying to x our broken community through student ideas and perceptions of how the community should be,” senior Tyler Weber said. To help those in need during the holiday season, Weber suggests donating money and time to food banks and other nonpro t organizations. Such organizations are now in more need due to COVID-19. “What I would hope that they [the people I help] would see is that I’m helping change their day and I’m hoping to put a smile on their face so that they don’t have to be super hungry when they go home,” Weber said.

As a fall decoration, a scarecrow sits on top of a table in the dining room of the Wheeler Mission Center for Women and Children on Oct. 22. Photo by Lily Thomas.

A quote from Matthew 25:35 is depicted above the doors to the dining room of the Wheeler Mission Center for Women and Children. Other quotes can be found round the lobby. Photo by Lily Thomas.