New Program Center - Impact Old Southside
As we bring hope to youth and young adults who are experiencing homelessness in the Indianapolis area, we’ve always worked to make sure that we are able to reach as many youth as we can. However, being on the near-east side of Indianapolis, it was always a challenge to reach youth on the southside of the city and to be accessible to them. For that reason, we are thrilled to announce that, last month, we opened our second program center on the southside of Indianapolis! Our new program center is located at Impact Old Southside Meridian Street Cafe and is open on Tuesdays from 4:00 - 7:00 pm. We are so thankful to Mount Pleasant Christian Church for hosting us!
Even during the first two weeks of the Impact Old Southside program center, we experienced many blessings as we met youth in the area.
Week 1
“At the center, during the first week, a few current youth came and played basketball and cards, had sack lunches, and really enjoyed the space. Later, while Case Managers John and
Devin did outreach on the streets, they met 3 young men. They were also able to provide one young man with a bus pass. During their street outreach, they ran into a 14-year-old runaway, and although they had to contact DCS, they still gave him an option to reach out for support from Outreach. Finally, at one point, we ran out of sack lunches and hygiene bags, and people were still asking for more! We are thankful that we can continue providing resources for the youth.”
Week 2
“During week two, Megan stayed back at Impact Center where she and a few current youth
joined her for board games and fellowship. While Megan was at the program center, John and Dave (new volunteer staff) and I went out for street outreach, and it was quite an adventure. We started near the impact center/downtown area where we visited a couple of small camps under the bridge. We chatted with several older folks and left them with flyers and sacks lunches, asking them to direct any youth to us. We then went to the Garfield area where we encountered several young adults (1 with no shoes), so we provided them with sack lunches, hygiene bags, and love. They all said that they would visit the impact center. Finally, we visited two new youth who were camped out by the new justice center on the near southside. Previously, these two youth had received a tent from us, and they continued to express their gratefulness and were happy we stopped by with sack lunches.”
To see an impact this quickly is a true blessing. We cannot be more grateful to Mount Pleasant Christian Church for hosting us, and we look forward to seeing what the Lord will do in the coming weeks of the new program center!