John Tuohy|Indianapolis Star
In 2020, domestic violence levels across the country skyrocketed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In Hamilton County alone, 3,783 clients sought help from the county's abuse service provider.
Yet, almost all the survivors who sought emergency assistance had to be sent outside the county for housing, since Hamilton Countydoesn’t have its own shelter.
“Because of this, victims are staying in, or returning to, unsafe and abusive situations so that they have housing for themselves and their children,” said Susan Ferguson, executive director of Prevail of Central Indiana, the county’s non-profit abuse service provider.
It’s a glaring omission in the state’s fourth largest county and one county leadershave started to address.
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The Hamilton County Council approved $14,500 for the design of a new shelter that would cost an estimated $3-5 million to build. Officials are considering land at county-owned Riverview Healthin Noblesville for a 20,000 square foot shelter that would be attached to new administrative offices for Prevail.
The Hamilton County shelter wouldhave six family suites with four beds each and the capacity to build six more in the future, Ferguson said.
The Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence reported that from March, 2020 -- the start of lockdowns -- until Decemberdomestic homicides more than doubled to 77 statewide compared to 36 in the same time period the year before. In Hamilton County, which usually sees fewer than two domestic violence deaths per year, there were eight, said Laura Berry, executive director of the coalition.
“The increased isolation, lack of mobility, financial and emotional strain, and the inability to reach out for resources all contributed,” Berry said.
Among those killed in 2020 in Hamilton County were Debra Hileman, 73, who was shot by her grandson, Zachary Hileman, who then killed himself in Fishers; Taylor Cox, 28, who was allegedly shot by her boyfriend, Julio Virula, 26, in Carmel; and Tiffany Plummer, 34, who was shot by Derrick Upshaw in a murder-suicide in Fishers.
Deaths still rising
The deaths have continued to surge this year, Berry said. So far there have been 38 domestic violence homicides across the state.
At the same time that fatalities are spiking, shelters have had to reduce their capacity because of fear of coronavirus infection, even as calls to 911 increased by 87% last year, officials said.
Many shelters sought alternative and safer means of emergency housing, including Prevail, mostly by putting survivors into hotels. Berry said her organization for years has used hotels in emergencies, but last year their use increased from 2% of clients to 13%. And the program has proven successful enough that the shelters will probably use it more in the future.
Hamilton County Councilor Fred Glynn said leadershave long been aware of the shelter shortcoming and had taken abbreviated attemptsin the past at correcting it “but it always seemed to be where can we find the land for it.”
A few years ago, the council and county commission considered building a shelter next to the Hamilton County Jail, then balked because they were unsure that would be the safest location.
Ferguson said victims in need of emergency shelter are sent to Madison or Marion counties, but the distance from home for families brings its own set of complications. Working parents have jobs to get to and children still have to go to school, even while in shelters.
And the length stays can vary greatly depending on the danger at home. Some families are able to find a place to stay within a couple days – with a relative, for instance -- while for others it can take months.
At Prevail, 55% of its clients last year were escaping domestic violence, 27% were sexual assault victims and the rest were victims of staking, battery, harassment or intimidation.
Help from outside
Alternatives in Anderson, where many Hamilton County survivors are sent, serves clients from several Central Indiana counties and has 28 beds in family suites.
Chief Executive Officer Johna Lee said the shelter is focusing on “rapid rehousing” for its clients and now has 23 units available at scattered sites in Madison County, where they can stay for up to a year.
“People really don’t want to be in shelters,” Lee said. “They want to be in their own place and shelters are very expensive to operate, they take staffing 24 hours a day.”
Ferguson said her hope is in “that in 15 years all our models have changed,” toward quick, easy and convenient rehousing. Though shelters are a last resort and expensive, it is still worth the investment to keep people out of imminent danger andclose to their communities, she said.
"This is a piece pf the puzzle as we search for lots of housing solutions at the same time," Ferguson said. "This helps us stay flexible."
Berry said her organization has provided dollars to Prevail this year so it can run its own version of rapid rehousing:putting survivors up in fair market apartments until they can find full-time new housing.
“Hamilton County is challenging because it is so expensive to live there,” Berry said.
In rough sketches done by RQAW, a Fishers engineering and architectural firm designing the Hamilton County shelter shelter, the facility would have plenty of garden and outdoor space to serve as “healing” areas for clients.
A little more than half of Prevail’s funding comes from local governments and contracts, 29% comes from individual donors and 15% is from charitable foundations.
Glynn said the county is now committed to funding a substantial portion of the new shelter, but would seek financial assistance from the cities and private donations.
“We’ve got unanimous support for this,” he said of the county council and county commission. “We will fund it.”
Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at 317-444-6418. Email at john.tuohy@indystar.com and follow on Twitter and Facebook.
