Outreach Staff Celebrate First Tenant: A Dream That Has Been 30 Years in the Making

“It was her first time having housing on her own,” shared Kelsie Stringham-Marquis, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives at Outreach. “She was very diligent… really paying attention to the lease. But the moment I handed her the keys, her face just lit up. I got to see a totally different side of her.” 

Signing a lease can easily be viewed as a rather uneventful moment. However, for the young mother stepping through the doorway of the first Outreach duplex, and for the team who have spent years working toward this day, it felt monumental. With the turn of a key, a new chapter began in Outreach’s thirty year history and a young family was given a fresh start.

For Outreach, this moment has been part of a vision that has quietly taken shape over the last thirty years. Since its earliest days — when the work centered on meeting immediate needs and building relationships — there has always been a deeper hope to address not just the symptoms of homelessness, but the systems that allow it to continue. Over time, that hope became more focused, especially as patterns began to emerge among the youth and young adults being served.

One of the clearest gaps revealed itself among young families. Outreach saw firsthand how young parents were often caught between systems that weren’t built with them in mind. The adult housing system was not designed to support youth, and the youth system was not equipped to serve parents. As a result, many young families were left navigating instability without a clear or supportive pathway forward. Listening to both the data and the lived experiences of youth, Outreach began to ask themselves how they could help youth access housing in a way that truly met their needs.

“We’re trying to do housing differently, in a way that actually fills the gaps our youth experience.” Kelsie said.

That question led to years of planning, discernment, and steady progress. For those who have been closely involved in bringing this vision to life, this moment still feels surreal. What once felt like a long-term aspiration is now something tangible. It is something you can walk into, stand inside, and can watch unfold in real time. As Andrew Neal, CEO of Outreach, shared, it has been “a long time coming,” a reflection of years spent building toward something that is only now beginning to take shape. “This is impactful. It’s important,” he shared. “But it’s also just the beginning.”

From the start, it was clear that this unit was part of something much bigger than housing. Outreach has always been rooted in relationships, and that same approach has carried into this new chapter. The goal was not simply to provide a place to live, but to create an environment that feels stable, supportive, and genuinely livable. That intention shows up in thoughtful, practical ways; like a fully furnished space for youth who may not have belongings of their own, access to a washer and dryer, and time built in for follow-up conversations after lease signing so that information can be processed without overwhelm.

More importantly, that intention shows up in presence. Shortly after moving in, the tenant experienced a moment that could have easily felt overwhelming. In the middle of the night, the carbon monoxide detector began to sound. “We were able to show up and help walk her through it and help her call the fire department,” Kelsie shared, “Everything was totally fine, but it means a lot being able to really walk alongside our youth and show up in that way.”

For someone navigating a brand-new space on her own, this kind of situation can feel disorienting and uncertain. Instead of being left to figure it out alone, she had someone to call. Kelsie responded, helping her walk through what to do and ensuring that everything was safe. 

That same intentionality extends into how this housing is designed. The duplex model allows for two families to live side by side, creating the potential for connection and shared experience. As Kelsie described, the goal is to build “micro-communities,” where young families have the opportunity to not only live near one another, but to begin forming relationships that can support them in the day-to-day realities of parenting and rebuilding stability. These small, relational networks reflect something Outreach has always believed: that long-term change is not built in isolation, but through community.

That vision is already continuing to grow. Outreach is preparing to welcome a second tenant into the other side of the duplex, expanding this shared space into something that more fully reflects its intended purpose. Beyond this single property, there is a larger, clearly defined goal guiding the work ahead.

Through years of data analysis and program experience, Outreach identified that at any given time, between 15 and 30 young families in Indianapolis are waiting for housing. From that understanding came a goal that is both ambitious and achievable; the development of eight duplexes, or sixteen total units, specifically designed to serve young families. “We could end young family homelessness,” Kelsie shared. With that level of capacity, Outreach believes it is possible to directly address this gap and move toward ending young family homelessness in a meaningful and measurable way.

What makes this moment especially significant is not just the progress itself, but what it represents. For three decades, Outreach has continued to show up, to listen, and to believe that something more was possible. This duplex is a continuation of the journey. 

After 30 years of dreaming, Outreach housing is no longer just an idea. It is something real, something growing, and something that continues to open doors for what comes next.