INDIANAPOLIS— Indianapolis’ winter contingency shelters officially opened Monday, later than in previous years, after city leaders decided to delay the start until December 1.
Officials say warmer recent Novembers and historical data showing most people seek winter shelter closer to mid-December influenced the decision.
“It’s a matter of life or death,” said Katrina Jones, who spent last winter unhoused and struggling to survive the cold. “It was a very rough journey and if it wasn’t for Wheeler Mission, I would have probably frozen outside.”
Jones eventually found refuge at Wheeler Mission’s Center for Women and Children, one of the nonprofit’s eight locations statewide that serve 700 to 800 people every night…